A Deadly Obsession
by JessicaStone134
Summary: A victim's obsession with PC Will Fletcher goes too far. Who will stand by the cop in his time of need, and who will turn their back on him?
1. A Woman Confused

**A new story from me. I hope you enjoy it, and if you do, would you be so kind as to review?Just so you don't get confused, this one is set after End Where I Begin, but Beth is still alive and married to Max. Enjoy :D**

It was a chilly day in April. PC Will Fletcher was walking towards Sun Hill station with his girlfriend, fellow police officer Emma Keane. He shrugged into his coat, trying to keep warm, his bare hands jammed into his pockets.

"I cannot wait for summer!" he muttered against the wind.

Emma laughed at him, before putting her arm through his, "Summer means short skirts and dresses, and bikinis."

"And sleeping naked." Will added with a twinkle in his eye.

"You wish!" she replied, hitting him playfully on the arm, holding the door to the station open.

"I'll see you later." Will said, giving Emma a quick kiss on the lips before heading towards the male changing rooms.

"Lunch at 1:30?" Emma shouted down the corridor.

"Yep, see you there!" Will shouted back.

*

He had just got his uniform on and was heading out the changing rooms when he was stopped by Jess.

"There you are, I've been looking everywhere!" Jess said with a sigh, pulling Will towards the courtyard and towards their patrol car.

"I'm obviously with you today then." Will said with a laugh as he climbed in the passenger seat.

"Yep, lucky you! We've been called to an attempted sexual assault on a 24 year old woman. Her name is Jennifer Archer." Jess said, indicating left out onto the road.

"Is that all we know?" Will asked.

"Fraid so. Smithy said to tread carefully with her, she sounded hysterical on the phone." Jess said, remembering the feeling.

"Well that much is obvious. I hate these cases." Will said, looking out the window.

"Why?" Jess asked, quickly looking at him.

"Because I hate seeing what men do to woman, just because they can. It's disgusting!" he spat.

"I know, but we have the chance to get these men off the streets. So lets go and do our job." Jess said, giving him a weak smile.

*

Will walked up the path to Jenny's house, closely followed by Jess. He knocked on the door loudly. Eventually the door was open a fraction, and a woman's face appeared in the gap.

"Hi, are you Miss Archer?" Will asked. The woman in the gap nodded slowly, looking over Will and Jess in their uniforms. "My name is PC Fletcher, and this is PC Stone. We've come to ask you some questions about the attempted sexual assault you reported?"

"Can I see ID?" Jenny asked quietly, in a soft Irish accent.

"Of course you can sweetie. Here you go." Jess produced her badge, showing Jenny. Will also got his out to show to her. The door closed and they could hear the scraping of a lock being pulled across. Then the door open, with Jenny behind it, and Will and Jess quickly walked into the foyer. Jenny shut the door behind them, putting all the locks back on. Jess and Will looked at Jenny closely; she had a dressing gown wrapped around her, her skin was pale and her hair was tied up in a messy bun. She had a haunted look in her eyes, something Jess and Will had seen too many times before.

"Shall we go and sit down? Then we can ask you some questions, if that's ok." Jess said softly.

"Yeah, go through to the living room. Do you want a drink?" Jenny asked, not making eye contact with either of the officers.

"No we're ok. Lets go and sit down." Will said, walking ahead into the living room and sitting on the sofa. Jenny sat in the armchair, her knees pulled up under her chin and her arms wrapped round her legs. Jess exchanged a look with Will and pulled a pad and pen out of her pocket.

"Jenny, we're going to ask you some questions about what happened. I'm sorry if you feel uncomfortable with the questions, but it'll be over soon ok?" Jess said quietly.

"Ok Jenny. Just start by telling us what happened." Will said, leaning forward.

"Ok, well I was walking home from work." Jenny started.

"Where do you work?" Jess asked.

"I work in a bar called _Louies _on Marshalen road, just round the corner. I finished work at 2am, and was taking my normal route home, which is across the playing fields and down the alley next to the house. When I was going down the path which leads to the alley, a man jumped out the bushes and dragged me in." Jenny said, taking a deep breath. Will handed her a tissue. "Thanks. Um, he put his hand over my mouth to stop me screaming. He pushed me down on the floor and tried to take my skirt off. But then he was interrupted by this group of men who had been drinking. The man got off me and ran away."

"Well done, good girl. Can I just look at your arms please?" Jess asked, standing up and slowly walking to Jenny. Jenny nodded, pulling her dressing gown off. There were bruises on her wrists where the man had held her down, and cuts down the back of her leg where she had scratched them on the undergrowth. "We'll take you to the hospital so you can be examined and your injuries photographed to be used as evidence ok?"

"Did you see your attacker?" Will asked. Jenny put her dressing gown back on and looked at Will, the first time she had made eye contact.

"No, but he was tall and very heavy. I think he had dark hair though." Jenny said apologetically, hating not being able to tell them any more.

"So you wouldn't recognise him if you saw him again then?" Jess asked, sitting back down next to Will.

"I don't think so, sorry." she said meekly.

"Hey, don't worry about it, you did a good thing telling us what happened. It was very brave." Will said kindly.

"I'm sorry to keep asking you questions, but do you have a boyfriend?" Jess asked, looking closely at Jenny.

Jenny started to nod, but then shook her head, "No, he broke up with me a few weeks ago."

"Is there a possibility he could have done this to you?" Will asked gently. Jenny's head snapped up and she looked at him in shock.

"Darren? No, no he wouldn't do that to me." Jenny said, adamantly shaking her head.

"Ok ok, is there anyone else who would want to hurt you in that way?" Will asked quickly.

"Well, I don't think so." Jenny said, thinking.

"What about your boss?" Jess asked.

"I don't think so, Alan isn't capable I don't think." Jenny replied.

"Ok, thank you. Could we just have an address or phone number for both Darren and Alan please?" Will asked, taking Jess' pad and pen from her.

"Yeah sure, let me just get them. But I don't think it was them." Jenny said, rooting around in her bag for her phone. She dictated their numbers to Will, and then told them where they could find the two men. "Is that everything?"

"Yes it is. We're going to take you to the hospital now, ok?" Will asked.

"Why?" Jenny asked, starting to panic.

"Remember we said so that we could get picture evidence and so you can examined to check you're ok?" Jess said slowly.

"Oh, oh yeah. Ok, I'll just go and get dressed." Jenny said, walking out the room.

"What do you think?" Will asked Jess, turning to face her.

Jess made a face, "I don't know. Something's not right though."

"Agreed." Will said.

*

Back at the station Beth and Emma were sat in the canteen enjoying a coffee when Smithy came in.

"Beth, Emma, I've got a job for you." he said, standing at the edge of their table. They both looked up at him. "Jess and Will have just gone to see a woman who claims to have been sexually assaulted last night. They're taking her to the hospital to be examined, but the victim gave us two names of possible suspects. Her ex boyfriend Darren Johnson and her boss Alan Richmond. I'd like you two to go and see Mr Johnson, see what he has to say for himself."

"Yes sarge." Beth said, finishing her coffee and heading out the canteen. She turned back, and saw Emma still sitting at the table, "Em! Come on."

"Oh sorry." Emma said, shaking her head. She got up and followed Beth.

*

They arrived at Darren's house. They put their hats on and walked up the steps to the front door, Emma knocking on it. A woman opened the door.

"Yes?" she said to them, looking from one to the other.

"Is this where Darren Johnson lives?" Emma asked.

"Yes why?" the woman asked suspiciously.

"Is he in? We need to talk to him." Beth said with a smile.

"Erm, yeah ok. Wait here, I'll just go and get him." the woman said, leaving the door open and heading up the stairs.

"She seems nice." Emma said sarcastically, walking through the door into the hall, shutting the door behind Beth. A few minutes later the woman came down the stairs followed by a tall muscular man with black hair.

"Tash said you wanted to talk to me?" he asked as the woman looked again at the officers before walking into another room.

"Darren Jonhson?" Emma enquired.

"Yeah that's me." Darren replied.

"I'm PC Carter, this is PC Keane. We would like to ask you some questions about a suspected sexual assault that took place last night." Beth said.

"What?" Darren asked, his forehead furrowing.

"Could we sit down and ask you some questions?" Emma asked.

"Uh yeah sure, follow me." Darren said, as if in a daze. He led the two woman into the kitchen and sat down on a bar stool.

"Last night at about 2:15am, Jenny Archer..." Beth began.

"Jen? She was the one was attacked?" Darren asked, and then he sighed.

"Yes, I understand she's an ex girlfriend of yours." Emma said.

"Yep, we broke up a few weeks ago. She was too clingy, and she kept making stuff up. When I said I was leaving her she told me she was pregnant. When I made her do the tests in front of me, they were all negative. She's a liar." Darren said simply.

Beth and Emma exchanged looks before Emma said, "Where were you last night at around 2:15am?"

"Are you serious? You really think I would assault her, if she has that is." Darren said angrily.

"What do you mean by that?" Beth asked.

"Oh so you don't know about the fact that she cried rape when she was 16?" Darren asked disbelievingly. He looked at their faces and gave a bitter laugh, "No of course not. She wouldn't have told you that. Basically she was sleeping with her dads best friend. He said he would leave his wife for her, but he didn't. When he tried to break it off with Jen, telling her it was a mistake, she went crazy. She went straight to the police station and reported him for rape. Later she admitted she had been lying, but by then the damage was done."

Emma quickly wrote down what Darren was saying, "We would still like you to answer our questions though."

"Ok, at 2:15am I was asleep in bed with my girlfriend. She can tell you that. Anything else?" Darren asked.

"Do you know why anyone would want to hurt Jenny?" Beth asked.

"Because she's a liar, she ruins peoples lives." Darren said bluntly.

"I'll ring Jess, let her know what's happening." Emma said, walking towards the patio doors and pulling her phone out.

"So, if Jenny is lying, why would she do it?" Beth asked.

"Because she wants attention. She wants people to care for her, and she thinks by making things up that people will. But it just gets her in trouble. After the whole thing about her crying rape, her dad disowned her. Her mother had died, so she had nowhere to go. That's when I met her. She was a complete mess. To be honest I think she could have done with some psychiatric help." Darren said, "I still care for her, but I couldn't take her games anymore. I hope she's ok."

"Thank you Darren. We'll be in touch if we need to talk to you again." Beth said with a small smile, signalling to Emma to follow her out. When they got back in the car, Emma turned to face Beth.

"Jess and Will thought something wasn't right about Jenny, but the doctors have found evidence of sexual assault, and there's semen on her thigh. Eddie has gone down so he can run it through the system, see if any matches come up. When I told them about what Darren said, they thought it could be a possibility that it could be happening again, but of course we still have to investigate in case this time it really happened." Emma said.

"I believe Darren, I think he's genuine. We need to get back to the nick and tell Smithy what we've just found out." Beth said, putting her belt on as Emma started the car up.

*

Callum was walking round the station trying to find Sally. He finally found her in the canteen, balancing a cup of tea on her huge bump. He laughed as he sat down across from her.

"Jess used to do that when she pregnant with Lexi, but Lexi would kick Jess so that the cup fell off." Callum said with a smile.

"My baby obviously isn't as clever as yours." Sally said with a laugh.

"It's not long to go now is it?" he asked her.

"Nope, 6 weeks." Sally said, beaming at him.

"Nate is so antsy about it all, I hate being partnered with him at the minute!" Callum said, getting up from the table and helping Sally up.

Sally laughed and threw her cup in the bin, "Try living with him! He keeps telling me that I should stop working now. I don't see why though, I'm fine to work! Anyway, where are we off to?" Sally asked, following Callum down the corridors.

"Going to talk to Mr Alan Richmond. He's a potential suspect in a sexual assault that Jess and Will were called out to." Callum said, opening the door for Sally to get into the car.

"Thanks. Have we got any more suspects?" Sally asked as Callum started the car.

"Well Emma and Beth went to talk to the victims ex, but he has a confirmed alibi and Beth believed him." Callum replied, checking both ways before he pulled out.

"So it's up to us then?" Sally said with a laugh.

"As usual!" Callum replied.

*

Callum and Sally made their way into _Louies_ bar, and spotted a man down the other end of the bar. Sally sat on a barstool by the man.

"We're closed." he said without looking up.

"We're the police." Callum said, showing the man his badge.

The man sighed and looked up, "Yes?"

"Are you Alan Richmond?" Sally asked.

"Yes why?" he asked.

"We're investigating a sexual assault on one of your staff." Callum said, taking his hat off.

"On who?" Alan asked, looking interested.

"Jenny Archer." Sally replied.

Alan gave a short laugh, "I wouldn't listen to her if I were you."

"Why not?" Callum asked, staring at the man.

"She's a liar, a compulsive one at that, and she's vicious!" Alan stated.

"Care to elaborate?" Sally said.

"When her ex tried to split up with her, she went mental, couldn't handle it at all. Came into work hysterical, I sent her home, she was no use to me. She started to become really obsessive over him, calling him all the time, going to his house all that sort of stuff. She was walking to work last week, and I heard shouting outside. I went out and Jenny had launched herself at the new girlfriend of her ex. I had to pull her away! I've got it on CCTV if you want to see it. And I've got CCTV of her walking home last night if you want that as well." Alan offered.

"Yeah that would be great. Can we ask you a few questions now please?" Callum asked.

"Go ahead." Alan said, getting glasses out the dishwasher.

"Where were you last night between 2am and 2:30am?" Sally asked, pen poised.

"At my sister's 50th birthday." Alan replied.

"Any witnesses?" Callum asked.

"Only about 100 of them. I can give you all their names and numbers if you want." Alan said.

"We'll only need 2. Do you know anyone who would want to hurt Jenny?" Sally asked.

"Nope, but she rubs a lot of people up the wrong way, although I dunno why someone would want to do that to her." Alan said, straightening up.

"Ok, thanks for your time. If you could get that CCTV for us please?" Callum asked, putting his hat back on.

After Alan had given them the CCTV, they were walking back to the car when Sally asked, "So what do you think? Is he telling the truth?"

"I think he is, and he has no reason to lie if it's all on CCTV and his alibi is tight. So we're at a dead end. We have no suspects." Callum said, throwing the CCTV tapes into the boot of the car.

"Better go let everyone know at the nick then." Sally said, heaving herself into the car.

*

Jess walked into the waiting room at the hospital, two teas in her hand. She handed one to Will then sat down.

"Eddie has just rung me, he's got the results of who the semen belongs to." Jess said, taking a sip.

"Oh yeah, who?" Will asked.

"Graham Wright. Beth looked him up on PNC for me, he's had youth convictions, but nothing sexual or violent. Beth has looked him up, and he's now a counsellor. And guess who one of patients was?" Jess said, her eyebrows raised.

"Jenny." Will said.

"Correct. According to Beth, he stopped being her counsellor about three months ago, although it doesn't say why. I think we should drop Jenny home and talk to Wright. Then go back to Jenny see what she says." Jess suggested.

"Agreed. Let's go." Will said, tipping his tea in the bin on the way out.

*

"Mr Wright?" Jess called into the office. Behind the desk was sat a man aged about 40 with light brown hair and glasses. He looked up expectantly.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Hi, I'm PC Stone, this is PC Fletcher. We'd like to talk to you about Jenny Archer. Can we come in?" Jess asked.

Graham stood up and indicated to them to take a seat, "Of course. How can I help?"

"Jenny has alleged that she was sexually assaulted last night on her way home from work." Will said.

Graham looked disgusted, "Really? Is she ok? Was she hurt?"

"She's ok. She's at the hospital being checked over. Now, the doctors found traces of semen on her thigh, and it was found to be a match to you." Jess said.

"Did you see her last night Mr Wright?" Will asked.

"Call me Graham. And yes I did. After work she came to my house, and we uh, well we had sex." Graham said, a blush appearing on his face.

Jess and Will exchanged confused glances, "You slept with Jenny? Do you know what time it was?" Jess asked.

"Erm, well she finishes work at 2am, and she got to mine about 2:15 am. She stayed for about an hour and then went home." Graham said.

"Was it consensual?" Will asked.

"Yes of course! You don't think I assaulted her! She came round and immediately started kissing me." Graham said, indignant.

"The thing is, we found scratches down the back of her legs and bruises on her wrists." Jess said.

Graham's face went bright red, "Well, god this is embarrassing, but she likes it rough. She begged for me to go harder and be rough, so well, so I did."

"Ok then. But we understand that Jenny was a patient of yours. It's unethical to have a relationship with a patient, as they're vulnerable, isn't that right Doctor?" Jess asked.

"Well yes, but Jenny stopped being my patient three months ago after things became passionate between us." Graham answered.

"What were you seeing Jenny for?" Will asked.

"I'm afraid that's confidential." Graham said sharply.

"Mr Wright, it's essential that we understand why Jenny has said she was sexually assaulted when you claim it was consensual." Jess replied, matching Graham's sharp tone.

"Ok fine. I was treating her for depression. Her and her boyfriend, or ex as I should say, had a volatile relationship, they were constantly arguing. She would become easily upset and downcast, and this led to depression." Graham said sadly. "I thought she was getting better, but obviously I was wrong."

"Ok, thank you for your time Mr Wright. We'll be in touch." Jess said getting up. Will followed her out of the room, and they headed back to the hospital to see Jenny.

*

"I've let Callum know what's going on. He says that from what her ex and her boss have said, and now her counsellor, the sexual assault was fabricated. I don't think we should arrest her though, for wasting time. She needs help." Jess said, walking down the corridors to where Jenny's room was.

"I agree. I think it was a cry for help. I don't understand how she could sit there and tell us she'd been assaulted though. It's undermining those who actually are raped." Will said, shaking his head, "You know what, I feel sorry for her, and I shouldn't, but I do. I think we ask her about Graham and then take her home."

"Yeah, sounds good to me. We'll take it slowly, I don't want her to become upset." Jess said, opening the door to Jenny's room. "Hi Jenny. Is it ok if we come in?"

Jenny was sat at the edge of the bed, looking straight ahead. She nodded her head once, "Sure."

"We've just spoken to Graham Wright." Will said. Jenny's head snapped up and she turned to look at Will. And then her face collapsed and she started to cry.

"Jenny, you weren't sexually assaulted were you?" Jess asked quietly.

Jenny shook her head, "No, I got so confused. I didn't know what was happening. I thought someone had attacked me, but they didn't. It was just Graham."

"We know, it's ok. Why did you say you had been assaulted though?" Will asked softly.

"I don't know, I just don't know. I'm so sorry for wasting time. Am I going to be arrested?" she asked fearfully.

"No sweetie, no you're not. We're going to refer you to a new psychiatrist though, who's going to help you." Jess said, putting her arms around Jenny. Jenny cried into her shoulder.

"We're going to take you home, ok? You're first appointment with Dr Marshall is tomorrow. We've got the details for you here." Will said.

"Come on honey, let's get you home." Jess said, leading Jenny out of the hospital and to their car.

*

"I'll take her in. You ok waiting here?" Will asked Jess as they pulled up to Jenny's house.

"Yeah that's fine. I'll let Smithy know." Jess said, smiling at him.

Will walked round to the back door to let Jenny out. She smiled gratefully at him and walked to the door to let them in.

"Thank you Will. You've been kinder to me than you should be, giving that I've given you the run around all day. I am sorry, but sometimes I get confused. Do you want a tea?" Jenny asked as the door opened.

"Sure, only quick though. And don't worry about it, we understand that you're not yourself. Here, this is my card. Call me if you need anything ok?" Will said, handing her his card. She rubbed her thumb across it and then placed it by her phone.

*

"Good day?" Emma asked, snuggled up with Will on his sofa.

"No, not really." Will said truthfully.

"That case really got to you didn't it?" Emma said, sitting up so she could look at him.

"Yeah. I don't know why though, that's the funny thing. But I guess it ended up ok." Will said with a smile.

"Mm, it did. God why is your house so cold?" Emma complained.

"I'm sorry! I've got a good way to get warm though." Will suggested cheekily, lifting Emma up and walking to the bedroom. He kicked the door shut with his foot, and a few seconds later the sounds of Emma's giggling filled the house.


	2. A Woman Scorned

**Thanks to my reviewers you lovely people: Hollie, Jo, Kelly, Krissie, Kate-Emma and Aileen. A bit of a long chapter, but I hope you enjoy.**

Over the two weeks that followed, Will hadn't forgotten about Jenny, but it was pushed to the back of his mind. He was spending all his time either working or with Emma, and quite often both at the same time. His relationship with Emma was going from strength to strength, and they had been dating for over four months now. Emma was enjoying being with a man who didn't mentally and physically abuse her, and Will was enjoying being with an intelligent and funny girl, different to his normal type of blonde bimbos up for a night of fun.

*

Will was sat in the canteen on a mild day with Jess, Beth, Emma, Sally and Nate. Will and Emma had been out clubbing the night before, and although Emma was perfectly fine, Will felt a bit worse for wear. He was slumped on the table, a cup of milk next to him.

"Will, you're supposed to line your stomach _before_ you go drinking not after!" Beth said with a laugh.

"Beth, stop shouting." Will moaned.

"I'm not! Not my fault you're super sensitive today! Just face it, you're getting old." Beth teased.

Will bolted upright, then regretted it and slumped back on the desk. As they were all laughing at Will, the Inspector strode into the room. She looked at Will and raised her eyebrows.

"Rough night PC Fletcher?" Gina shouted. Will groaned and covered his ears, mumbling something. Emma laughed and stroked his hair at the back. "Right, Beth and Sally, I've got a job for you two, follow me! The rest of you, I'm sure there's some paperwork or something for you to be doing."

"Ma'am." they all said dully. As the others milled out, Jess waited for Will to get up. "Come on sunshine, lets go." she said in an annoyingly cheerful voice.

*

As Will and Jess were just about to settle down, a phone started to ring.

"Whoever's that is turn it off!" Will growled, rubbing his eyes.

"Will, I think you'll find its yours." Jess said pointedly.

Will fumbled around in his pockets then finally got his phone. He looked at the caller ID, but it was a number he didn't recognise. "PC Fletcher." he said in his most professional and sober voice.

"Will? Will! It's Jenny, Jenny Archer. I think there's someone in my house! I've shut myself in my bedroom, but there is definitely someone out there. They're banging around, I think I'm being burgled!" Jenny cried with terror in her voice.

"Jenny calm down, I'll be there in a minute. Just stay in your room and keep quiet ok?" Will said quickly, motioning to Jess to go. He hung up, and ran out to the squad car. "Jess, call in that we're on a shout."

"What's going on?" Jess asked, quickly getting into the car.

"Jenny just rang, she said there's someone in her house. She thinks she's being burgled." Will said speeding off from the station towards Jenny's house.

*

Will screeched up to the house, and both officers jumped out the car and ran to the door. Will looked at Jess, indicating she should get her baton out. They both flicked the batons, extending them to their full length. Will raised his behind his head as he approached the door. He pushed it gently, and found that it was already open. He crept through the door, peering round the door leading into the living room while Jess moved down the hall and to the kitchen. That too was clear. They walked round to the bottom of the stairs, and Will started climbing up them, closely followed by Jess. They approached the top hallway and Jess checked the bathroom and spare room while Will advanced down the hall and came to a shut door.

"Jess." he whispered, pointing at the door. Jess nodded and Will turned the handle. The door opened easily and he walked in. It looked empty, "There's no one here."

"Well where's Jenny?" Jess asked, confused. They suddenly heard a muffled sound coming from the other side of the bed. Jess ran round and saw Jenny on the floor. "Will here!"

Will went to where Jess was crouched down. Her hands had been tied behind her back, and there was a bag over her head. Jess took the bag off, and saw tears streaming down Jenny's face, and duct tape covering her mouth. "It's ok, we've got you now." Will said soothingly, turning round so he could radio in what had happened.

"Jenny, I'm going to get the duct tape off, it might hurt a little bit, so I'm sorry in advance." Jess said, gingerly pulling on the duct tape. As soon as it was off, loud sobs erupted from Jenny's body.

"She came in here and tied me up, told me I was a stupid bitch. Then she put the tape over my mouth." Jenny said tearfully. Jess sat her up and untied the bindings on Jenny's arms.

"It's ok, you're safe now. You're going to be ok." Jess said, helping Jenny up and leading her downstairs. "You need a nice sweet tea to get over the shock." Jess started opening cupboards, looking for all the bits to make tea.

Will came down the stairs and walked into the kitchen, showing Jess a photo, "Jenny and her ex. This was the only thing that looked as if it had been damaged. It's all been smashed up, trodden on by the looks of it."

"Why would someone smash up one picture but not take anything else?" Jess asked, putting milk in the tea.

"I don't know, but I've called Eddie, told him to get down here, find some prints for us. How's Jenny?" Will asked quietly, turning to where Jenny was sat staring into space.

"In shock. One thing she said about the attacker was interesting." Jess said, handing Will a tea and then putting a tea in front of Jenny, "There you go Jenny, that will make you feel better." Jess turned back to Will, "She said that her attacker was a she. How many female burglars do we have in Canley?"

"Good point. I'll get Emma to get a list of known female burglars in the area and have her give me the names, see if Jenny recognises any of them." Will said, pulling out his phone.

"Good plan batman." Jess said with a smile before sitting next to Jenny.

*

"Jenny, our crime scene examiner has got some prints from the tape that was on your mouth, and from some fibres left behind when the door was forced open. So our colleagues back at the station will run it through the computer and try and get a match. Do you know any women who would want to do this?" Jess asked.

"No, I don't know. Nothing was stolen, cause I've checked, it was only the pictures of me with Darren which have been smashed or ripped up." Jenny replied, cradling a cup of tea in her hands.

Will had a sudden brainwave, "Jenny, sorry to ask this but do you know what Darren's new girlfriend is called?"

"Erm, I think he called her Tash, so maybe Natasha? But that's all I know. Why do you think it was her?" Jenny asked, looking up at Will.

"I'm not sure, but the way that only the pictures of you and Darren have been vandalised, and the fact it was a woman could indicate that she's getting revenge for you incriminating Darren." Will said.

"I'll ring Emma, see if anyone on the list of burglars was called Natasha." Jess said, getting up and leaving the room. As soon as Jess left, tears began to fall down Jenny's face. Will looked round, and knelt in front of her.

"Are you ok?" he asked gently.

Jenny nodded, then shaked, "No, not really. My life is just crap at the minute." she said tearfully. She buried her head in her hands, her long black hair hanging around her face like a curtain.

"It's happens to everyone, don't worry." Will replied, resting a hand on her shoulder. Jenny looked up, her big brown eyes rimmed with tears. And then suddenly she threw herself at him, sobbing uncontrollably on his shoulder. Will knelt there with Jenny hugging him, stunned. He didn't know what to do. He awkwardly patted her shoulder and hoped that was enough.

"Oh I'm sorry. You've got my tears on your shoulder now." she said apologetically when she finally released him. Will quickly stood up and moved back a step.

"Uh, it's ok, many women have cried on my shoulder." he said, trying to lighten the atmosphere. Jenny gave a small laugh, and then wiped her eyes. Luckily for Will, Jess chose that moment to walk into the room. She stopped as she saw Jenny wiping her eyes and Will looking uncomfortable.

"Will, quick work please?" she asked with a smile.

"Sure." Will widened his eyes, thanking Jess.

They got out into the hall and Will shut the door behind him. "What's going on?" Jess asked.

"She started crying, I was knelt in front of her, and I just put my hand on her shoulder, then she threw herself at me and was crying on my shoulder! I didn't know what to do!" Will explained, throwing his hands up in the air.

"There's something not right about her," Jess said, "Anyway, Emma checked the names, and guess who came up? Natasha Bennet is Darren's new girlfriend, and an ex con. She was locked up for a year for helping on a robbery. She was only 18 at the time, but it looks like she's back to her old ways. Eddie is checking the prints on file with the ones he got off the duct tape, but he said he'll get back to me. As soon as he calls, if it is Natasha, I'll see if Smithy will send someone round there to pick her up."

"Why would she do something like that to Jenny though? What would she get out of it?" Will asked, leaning against the wall.

"Nothing, but her boyfriend had the police on him because of Jenny, and maybe Natasha didn't like it. She obviously knows that Jenny seemed to be a bit obsessive of Darren, so maybe she wanted to warn her off?" Jess suggested.

"Women are so confusing!" Will said, pulling a face.

Jess laughed and patted him on the shoulder, "It's ok Will, but you should be used to it by now!"

*

"Jess? It's Beth. Eddie has just confirmed that it was Natasha who broke into Jenny's house. Smithy has sent us to go and pick Natasha up, so we'll be bringing her in for interview soon." Beth listened as Jess told her about Jenny throwing herself at Will, "She what? How weird! Tell Will to watch his back! Ok then, I'll see you later, bye!" Beth hung up and placed her phone in her pocket.

"Why has Will got to watch his back?" Emma asked.

"Oh this Jenny person, seems to like Will." Beth said, raising her eyebrows at Emma.

"Well she better stay back, he's mine." Emma said with a laugh. "Here we are. How do you want to play this?"

"Do you think she's likely to run?" Beth asked, getting out the car.

"Possibly." Emma replied, walking to the door.

"Well I'll go round the back then, shout if you get her." Beth called as she walked round the corner and round the back of the house. Emma knocked briskly on the door. Natasha opened the door, took one look at Emma and rolled her eyes.

"If you're looking for Darren..." she started to say but was interrupted by Emma.

"No, actually we're looking for you." Emma said with a small smile. Comprehension dawned in Natasha's eyes, and she tried to slam the door in Emma's face. Emma caught the door before it shut, but Natasha had ran to the back of the house and was heading for the back door. Beth was hidden round the corner and grabbed Natasha as she went past.

"Going somewhere?" she asked as she cuffed Natasha.

Emma ran outside, nearly colliding with Beth. "Have you cautioned her?"

Beth looked at her, "I was about to before you nearly knocked me over. Natasha Bennet I am arresting you on suspicion of breaking and entering, vandalism and intimidation. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned something which you may later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Understand?"  
"Yes." Natasha hissed.

*

"Interview commencing at 13:10pm. Present are PC Carter, PC Keane, Natasha Bennet and her solicitor Maria Travis. Right Natasha, where were you at 10:30am this morning?" Beth asked.

"In bed." Natasha said simply.

"Are you sure? Because we have a witness and CCTV which places you at Tramways Street at 10:30am." Emma said, producing an image of Natasha.

"Well why did you ask me then?" Natasha said rudely.

"Why did you lie?" Beth countered. "Do you know Jennifer Archer?"

"I'd rather I didn't." Natasha said, looking at the table.

"Isn't Jennifer your boyfriends ex?" Emma asked.

"Yes, he's well rid of her though. She was an obsessive and controlling bitch." Natasha spat.

"What do you mean by that?" Beth asked.

"I mean that when he tried to break up with her she said she was pregnant trying to get him to stay. She used to check his phone to read his messages, he had to show her emails from women to check he wasn't cheating, he wasn't allowed out with his work friends with out her, basically he wasn't allowed a life." Natasha said, a scowl on her face.

"But what has that got to do with you?" Emma asked.

"Because even though they split up she still had control over him. And she still acted as if they were going out! I had to do something." Natasha said accidentally, and then bit her lip and turned to her solicitor.

"What did you have to do Natasha? Did you have to break into Miss Archer's house, tie her up, gag her and then smash or rip any pictures you could find of Miss Archer and your boyfriend?" Emma asked, her eyebrows raised.

Natasha looked at her solicitor, who pointed at something written on her legal pad, "No comment."

"Come on Natasha, you must have been proud of pulling that off, that you still remember what to do after 10 years. That's when your last offence for this was, wasn't is?" Emma said, trying to goad her into a confession.

"I was set up! I was 18, I didn't know what I was doing!" Natasha shouted.

"Natasha, when Jenny was found she was hysterical, and you did that to her." Beth said, trying to take the good cop route to Emma's bad cop.

"I didn't set out to tie her up, but she was screaming at me and scratching at me. She did this to me." Natasha said, pulling the sleeves of her top up where there were long gouge marks from where Jenny had scratched at her. "When I first got there, I just wanted to talk to her, I wasn't going to tie her up, I swear. But then, she was screaming at me, telling me to get out. She was the one who got the pictures of her and Darren and started smashing and ripping them, not me."

Beth exchanged a look with Emma and wrote down what Natasha had just said, "But why did you tie her up?"

Natasha sighed, "She was saying stuff about me, about how I'm not good enough to be with Darren and should go back to where I came from. I just saw red, and I flipped. I felt terrible about it after."

"When Miss Archer rang us, she said she was barricaded in her bedroom and someone was smashing about downstairs. Is that what happened?" Beth asked, sensing that Jenny had elaborated what had happened.

Natasha looked shocked, " No! I knocked on the door, Jenny tried to slam it in my face, I pushed against it. That's when part of the wood on the door came off. Then she ran up the stairs, trying to get away from me, and I followed. She shut her bedroom door and I could hear her smashing stuff and then she was talking to someone on the phone. When I finally got the door open she was ripping all the pictures up! And that's when she went for me and started saying stuff to me."

"Ok Natasha, thank you very much. Interview terminated at 13:30pm." Beth got up and turned the tape recorder off.

"I'll take her back to the cells." Emma said, escorting Natasha out of the interview room and back to her cell.

*

"Sarge, can I talk to you about the case we're working on?" Beth asked as her, Jess, Will and Emma were sat in the sergeants office in front of Smithy.

"Yep, go ahead." Smithy said.

"There's something not right about Jenny. Remember the sexual assault that she falsified earlier in the month, and how we told her she had to go to see a specialist, well she went the first time but didn't like what the Dr told her, so she stopped going. And now, with this break in, Natasha has told us a completely different story to Jenny's account. And to be honest, I think Natasha was telling the truth." Beth said, looking at Will and Jess.

"And what do you two think? You know Jenny the best?" Smithy asked Will and Jess.

"I'm not sure about her. Like Beth said, there's something not right about her, but I don't know what. She was fine when I was with her, but when I left the room to ring Emma she threw herself at Will, but was fine by the time I came in again. I think she's a fantasist, or at least an extreme liar. She wants attention and comfort, especially of the male variety." Jess said, agreeing with Beth.

"Will?" Smithy questioned.

"I agree, when it's just me and her she becomes all helpless, but as soon as there's a woman there she perks up. I don't think Natasha should be charged with vandalism or breaking and entering." Will said honestly.

"Me either, she was telling the truth sarge." Emma added.

"Ok, well go and let her know that two of the charges have been dropped. Will, Jess, get back to Jenny's and tell her what's happened. Does Natasha want Jenny to be charged with assault?" Smithy asked Beth and Emma.

"No, she just wants it to be over." Beth replied.

"Ok then, bail her, then start the paperwork." Smithy said, dismissing the four officers with a wave of his hand.

"Sarge." they said as they trooped out.

*

"Did you get her?" Jenny asked as soon as she saw the squad car pull up in front of her house.

"Yes we did. She's been charged with intimidation and released pending trail." Jess said, walking round the squad car so they were in front of Jenny. Jenny's face fell.

"What? But she broke into my house! She smashed up my pictures!" Jenny said, her voice rising.

"Jenny, Natasha told us a different version of events as to what happened, and we're inclined to believe her. You didn't tell us that you knew it was Natasha, you didn't tell us you were the one who smashed all the pictures up, you didn't tell us that you assaulted Natasha." Jess said.

"You can't be serious?! I am the victim here!" she screeched, looking between Will and Jess.

"Sorry Jenny. But she's been warned to stay away from you, she's not allowed within 50 feet." Jess replied.

"Is your door still broken?" Will asked, looking around Jenny to where the door was al busted up.

"Yeah." Jenny said distractedly.

"I can quickly fix it for you if you want." Will offered.

"Oh, yes please." Jenny said, a big smile appearing on her face in Will's direction.

"Do you want me to help?" Jess asked.

"No, go wait in the car, I'll be over in a minute." Will said with a smile, walking over to the door.

*

Will had fixed the door and was just checking that it definitely shut and re-open when Jenny approached.

"Thanks for that Will, you didn't have to do it." Jenny said.

"That's all right. I'll be off now." Will said, picking up his hat and walking out the door.

"Will! Wait!" Jenny called after him.

Will slowly turned round, "Yeah?"

"Let me repay you. I'll buy you a drink tonight, what do you say?" Jenny asked.

Will thought about it quickly, thinking it couldn't do any harm, "Sure why not."

Jenny smiled at him, "Good. I'll ring you to arrange a time."

Will was about to reply not to use his work phone for that, but Jenny had shut the door and disappeared into her house. Will wondered if he had made a mistake in agreeing to go for a drink with her, but pushed the thoughts to the back of his head and walked to the squad car. He felt sorry for her, that was all.

*

Will got in that night at 10:30pm. He had met Jenny at a pub round the corner from work, and they had a few pints together before Will suggested calling it a night as he was working the next day. He had an ok time with her, but he thought she was trying too hard, and she was always touching him, which, to him, was weird. But he had stuck it out because she was lonely and he felt sorry for her.

"I need to go home to my girlfriend, and I have work tomorrow." Will said, smiling apologetically.

Jenny's face fell at the mention of Emma, "Oh just stay for a few more."

"No really, I've got to go. Thanks for the drink though." Will said, placing his empty pint glass on the bar.

"We should do this again." Jenny suggested, too brightly.

Will turned and shook his head slowly, "No Jenny, I don't think so. See you around, take car."

As soon as Will had left, hot tears fell down Jenny's face, and she stalked back to her house.

*

Over the next week Will kept getting calls from Jenny which he ignored. He was at Emma's flat one night, and Emma was making then dinner. As she was cooking, he snaked his arms round her waist, kissing her neck.

"Something smells good." he murmured against her neck.

She wriggled away from his breath with a laugh, "Will that tickles! Get off before I spill hot food all over us!"

"What a good idea, it'll get us out of these clothes a bit quicker." Will said cheekily, leaning against the counter behind Emma.

Emma playfully hit him with the spoon, "You, Will Fletcher, are not getting any action tonight if you carry on!"

Will pulled a face, "But Em!" Emma's face softened and she wrapped her arms round his neck, kissing him fully on the lips, "Mm, you taste nice." he whispered.

"Thank you." winking at him before turning back to the food. They stood there a minute more when Will's phone began to ring from the living room.

"That better not be work." he said as he walked out the kitchen and across the living room. He picked his phone up, looking at the number, and sighing when he recognised it as Jenny's. "Hello?"

"Hi Will, it's Jenny. Do you fancy..." Jenny said cheerfully, but was interrupted by Will.

"Jenny, stop ringing me. I have a girlfriend and it's not fair on her if I keep meeting you for drinks. Sorry, but I don't want to go for drinks with you. If you keep ringing me I will change my number." Will said firmly but kindly.

"Oh, ok then. Sorry." Jenny said, and then the line went dead. Will threw his phone on the sofa and walked back into the kitchen.

"Who was it?" Emma asked.

"Wrong number." Will said.

*

Jenny placed her mobile on the night stand, and then slowly got out of bed. She picked up the one remaining unsmashed picture of her and Darren and threw it with as much force as she could against the wall. She started to scream, frustrated, furious, upset screams which shook the whole house. She picked up her mobile of the night stand and threw that at the mirror. Both the mirror and the mobile smashed into small piece, and Jenny walked over to the shards of mirror on the floor and grabbed the sharpest bit she could find. She sat down heavily on the edge of the bed and began dragging the piece of glass up her thigh, feeling oddly satisfied as the blood broke through her skin and started running down her legs, leaving spots of red blood on the cream carpet.


	3. A Woman Obsessed

**Sorry for the delay, school has come back with a vengence! So thank you to Aileen, Hollie, Kat and Krissie for your lovely reviews :D**

Will hadn't heard anything from Jenny since he'd told her that he didn't want to speak to her anymore. He had seen her out sometimes, but they'd only exchanged smiles and then moved on. Will didn't know why he hadn't told Emma about Jenny constantly ringing him, but there was no need for Emma to know, was there? And, Will said to himself, it's stopped now, so it doesn't matter.

*

Will and Emma were walking out of the station hand in hand, ready to go back to Will's and slob out on the sofa.

"You know what?" Emma said, turning to Will.

"What?" he asked.

"I think it would be easier if we didn't have to keep going to each others houses." she said, looking up at him.

He frowned, then asked, "Are you breaking up with me?"

Emma looked shocked, "How did you get to that conclusion? No of course I'm not breaking up with you! But, how would you feel about thinking about moving in together?"

Will quickly looked at her, beaming at her, "Serious? I was going to ask you ages ago, but wasn't sure what you would say."

"Really? You should have just asked me silly! So what do you think?" Emma asked, her eyes sparkling with love.

"I think we should go for it. But, let's leave it for a month so that we can get everything sorted out first." Will suggested.

"Yeah, good idea. Will Fletcher, I do believe I love you." Emma said, stretching up on tiptoes so she could kiss him.

"That's very good Miss Keane, cause funnily enough I love you too."

As they rounded the corner away from the station, Will nearly walked into someone. He quickly said his apologies, but then saw it was Jenny. He gave her a small smile and said hello.

"Oh hi Will." Jenny said with a big smile, completely ignoring Emma.

"You alright?" he asked her, being polite.

"Yeah I'm really good thanks, you?" she asked, looking only at Will.

"Fine, just going home, me and Em are just gonna slob out. So I'll see you later." Will said, walking off.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Emma looked over her shoulder at Jenny's retreating back and said, "Did you notice how she completely ignored me?"

"Yeah, weird huh." Will said thinking.

"Rude more like. Some people, eh." she said with a laugh.

*

The normal lot were sat in the canteen, counting down the minutes to the end of their shift. They were one member short from now on; Sally had gone on maternity leave the week before, and was apparently bored out of her head at home, much like Jess had been.

"Well why don't we all go out tomorrow night to the pub? Then Sally can come as well, and we can see her and she gets out the house." Beth suggested.

"I think she'd like that. I'd have to quickly run back to the flat and get her, but yeah." Nate said with a smile.

"Agreed, although don't let me drink." Will said seriously. Everyone just turned and stared at him in stunned silence.

"Emma, did I just hear your boyfriend say he wasn't going to drink?" Jess said, turning to Emma.

Emma looked at Will curiously, and then looked at Jess, "I think so! Wow, that last hangover must have had a bigger effect than we thought!"

Everyone laughed while Will tried to explain, "It's hardly fair if we can all drink and Sally can't!"

"Since when did you become Mr Sensitive?" Ben asked with a laugh. Will shrugged his shoulders. "I think you're saying that because you don't want to admit that you can't handle your drink as well as you used to."

"Fine, you got me, I'm getting old and I can't drink as much." Will admitted. Just then Callum walked into the canteen and put his hand on Jess' shoulder.

"You ready to go?" he asked her.

"Is it the end of the shift?" she asked, standing up.

"Yep, lets go get Lexi and eat, I am starving." Callum said with a smile. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye sarge." Ben and Millie said.

"Don't forget to ask Sally about tomorrow night Nate!" Jess called as her and Callum left the canteen.

"Yes!" Nate shouted back, then turned to the group, "Pub?"

"Oh yes." Emma said eagerly standing up. "Will?"

"Yeah, go on then." he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Knew you wouldn't be able to resist." Beth said with a smile at him.

"What can I say." Will said, laughing as him and Emma walked out the canteen.

*

The following day, Jess and Will were walking out the station heading towards the pub so they could get some tables for when everyone else arrived. As they were crossing the road, when Jess looked round to check for cars she saw Jenny sitting on a bench. She frowned, looking at Will.

"Will, why is Jenny sat over there staring at you?" Jess asked as Will tried not to look in that direction.

"I don't know!" he said quickly.

"Have you noticed how she always seems to be hanging around outside the station at the time when your shift ends?" Jess said, raising her eyebrows as Jenny waved at Will. Will just gave a quick smile and then turned to Jess.

"Yeah I know, but maybe she just wants attention, who knows." Will said, shoving his hands in his pocket.

"She wants attention alright; from you!" Jess said.

"Nah, don't be stupid, it's nothing. Now come one, the rate we're going the others will beat us to the pub!" Will said, fixing a smile on his face.

"Don't change the subject!" Jess said.

Will sighed, and looked at Jess, "Look, I don't know why she keeps hanging around and bumping into me. I've told her to stop ringing me, but evidently she thinks its ok to hang around outside the station until I come out. I'll have a word with her next time, don't worry."

"Maybe you should tell Emma as well." Jess suggested, holding the door to the pub open.

"No, I don't need to worry her about that." Will said, walking up to the bar.

"Come on, if you're moving in together you can't start keeping things from her!" Jess pointed out, sitting on a bar stool.

"Please just leave it." Will said in a tired voice.

Jess sighed and put her hand on Will's arm, "Ok, I'll leave it."

*

Soon everyone else's shift had finished, and it was around 8pm that a whole group of off duty, thirsty police officers walked into the bar. Callum headed over to where Jess was sitting, gave her a kiss and then walked to the bar to get the first round. Beth and Max came in next, Max with his arm around Beth's shoulders. They took seats next to Jess, and Max kissed her cheek before talking to Will. Emma followed, kissing Will as she sat next to him, and then finally Sally and Nate came in. They saw Sally's stomach before they saw her, she was the big now, but she was smiling as she came in, happy to see all her friends again. Jess leapt up when Sally came in, and gave her a tight hug, and then pressed her hands against Sally's bump.

"Wow Sal, baby has a strong kick! How're you doing?" Jess asked, pulling Sally out a chair while Nate joined Callum at the bar.

"I'm doing good, just can't wait for the baby to be out now. Where's Lexi?" Sally asked.

"With her Uncle Andy. He's come to stay for two weeks, she loves having him here." Jess said with a laugh.

Callum and Nate returned with the drinks, setting them down in front of the right people. Callum sat next to Jess, and Nate next to Sally.

"Will?" Beth said, looking at Will who had just raised his pint to his lips.

"What?" he asked.

"I thought you said you weren't going to drink." she said with a cheeky smile.

"I said that last time, and the time before, but I still ignored myself, and the rest of you didn't stop me!" he said, accusing all his friends before laughing.

"It's impossible to get a drink away from you! We should all know that!" Nate said, looking pointedly at Will.

"Shut up Nate, you're just as bad, if not worse than I am!" Will said, shaking his head.

"Actually, for your information my husband has been very good while I've been pregnant. He's hardly drunk anything alcoholic at all!" Sally butted in.

Everyone was silent before Beth said, "Well I can't believe that!"

*

They had been at the pub for over two hours, and everyone, besides Sally, was a bit tipsy. Sally had just got up and left to go to the toilet when the door to the pub was opened and a big gust of wind swirled around the pub. As it shut, there was the sound of giggling and the clattering of unsteady heels. The cops turned around, seeing who it was, and then Will's eyes widened as he took in Jenny, completely off her face and coming towards them.

"Will!" she said in a high voice, "Fancy seeing you here!"

Will looked round at everyone, wondering what to do, "Erm hi."

"You look nice tonight." she said with a smile, plopping herself down in Sally's vacated seat.

"Thanks, what're you doing here?" Will asked, frowning at the state she was in.

"Oh you know, just having a few drinks." she replied, slurring.

"That's nice, well I'm having drinks with my friends actually." Will said, trying to hint that he wanted her to leave.

"Have I told you how nice you look tonight?" she asked, completely ignoring the hint.

Emma narrowed her eyes at Jenny, then placed her arm on Will's leg. "Yes Jenny. Maybe you should get a cab home?" he suggested.

Jenny frowned, "No, the night has only just begun!"

Jess looked at Callum then said to Jenny, "Come on Jenny, I'll take you home."

"I said no!" she said, her voice rising, and she stood up quickly, causing the chair to fall from the floor. She turned around to storm away, and walked straight into Sally who was just returning from the toilets. Sally fell backwards, hitting her stomach on the edge of a chair as she fell down. Nate immediately got up and ran to her side as Sally sat there stunned, her hand on the side of her stomach. Nate glared up at Jenny.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?! Watch where you're going! Can't you see that she's pregnant!" Nate shouted at Jenny while holding Sally to him.

Jenny looked completely shocked, she started mumbling, "Oh god, I'm so sorry, I didn't see you there, I was mad, and I didn't see you. I'm really sorry." Tears started to slide down Jenny's face as Nate slowly helped Sally to her feet.

"Sal, you alright?" Jess asked, coming round to where Sally was leaning against a table.

Sally opened her eyes, her hand still on her stomach. She nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine, it was just a little knock, that's all. Oh god."

"What? What's wrong?" Nate asked, panicking.

"I need the toilet again! How is that possible?!" she said with a smile at Nate. She turned and walked back to the toilets, a bit slower than before. Jess turned to face Jenny.

"I think it's time you went home now. Come on, I'll take you." Jess said firmly.

Jenny shook her head quickly, "No, I want Will to take me."

Jess looked to Will, shaking her head, "Ok, I'll take you home. Then I'll come back ok?" Will said, kissing Emma as he got up, extracting his car keys from his pocket.

"Will, are you ok to drive?" Callum asked.

"Yeah, I've only had one pint, and it's not far away." Will said, heading towards the door to the pub, Jenny close behind him, "I won't be long."

"Drive carefully!" Emma called after him.

*

Will pulled up outside Jenny's house just after midnight and opened the door for her to get out the car. She fumbled in her bag for the keys, Will took them from her and opened the door himself. He helped her through the house, putting her bag on her sofa before assisting her up the stairs and through to her room. She fell onto the bed, and Will threw a fleece over her which was at the end of the bed. He spotted the drops of blood on the floor, but didn't say anything.

"Do you need anything?" Will asked, shutting the curtains.

"No, I'm ok thanks. I'm really sorry about your friend." Jenny said quietly.

"It's fine, she said she was ok. Jenny, you need to stop appearing around the station and places where I am. It's not on, ok?" Will said firmly.

Jenny's bottom lip quavered, but she nodded, "I know."

Will looked at her once more, and then walked out the bedroom, shutting the door quietly. Just as he was about to shut the front door, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs and looked up to see Jenny coming towards him. She stopped in front of him, and then pressed herself against him, covering his mouth with hers. Will pushed her off him, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded, looking at her.

"Kissing you." she said simply.

"I have a girlfriend who I love, and I don't fancy you!" he said, raising his voice.

"You can't love her that much if you just kissed me." Jenny said.

"I didn't kiss you Jenny, you kissed me. Now leave me alone, and get yourself some help." Will said, slamming the front door behind him and driving back to the pub.

*

"Are we all ready to leave then?" Max asked, looking where the bartender was giving their table evils for still being there when he wanted to close up.

"Yeah, I'll just go and get Sally." Jess said, getting up from her seat and walking to the ladies toilets. She pushed the door open and called into the toilets, "Sal?"

"Jess?" came the slightly breathless reply from the end cubicle.

Jess walked to the end of the cubicles and stood in front of it, "Sal, you ok?" Jess heard a groan, and pushed against the door of Sally's cubicle. Sally was sat on the closed toilet seat, one arm round her vast stomach. She looked up at Jess, then down at the floor to where Jess saw a puddle of water. "Your waters have broken." Jess said, not asking her but stating the fact.

Sally nodded, "When Jenny knocked me over the baby must have decided it wasn't so safe to stay in me after all."

"Have you had any contractions?" Jess asked, bending down so she was eye level with Sally.

"Only one, and it was quite painful, but judging how loud you got before you had Lexi, I'll say that I've barely started labour." Sally said, with a smile.

"I remember that so clearly! You'll be fine though, labour is different for every woman. I'll go get Nate, he can take you to the hospital. Have you got your bag with you?" Jess asked.

"It's in the car, ready at all times." Sally said with a laugh.

"Right, I'll be right back ok?" Jess said, taking Sally's hand and smiling as she ran out the toilets.

*

Will had just sat himself back down in the pub next to Emma when Jess ran out the toilets.

"Nate, Sally's gone into labour, her waters have broke. You need to get her to the hospital now, ok?" Jess said, stopping in front of the table.

"Her waters have broken? Here?" Beth asked, looking up at Jess.

Jess nodded, "Nate, if you bring the car round, me and Beth will help Sally out to the car and you can go straight away."

"Oh my god, she's having the baby!" Nate said, only just catching up. He got up and sprinted out the pub to where their car was parked.

"Wow! We're going to be godmummies!" Beth said with a big smile.

"Yep, let's go help Sally." Jess said smiling as they walked back to the toilets.

The barman walked over to where Will, Emma, Max and Callum were left. "What's going on?" he asked, signalling where Nate had just run out.

"His wife has just gone into labour in your toilets." Emma said with a pleasant smile.

The barman did a double take, then said worriedly, "She's not having the baby in here is she? Only my girlfriend's coming over and it wouldn't help my romantic plans if that woman was screaming her head off down here."

The four cops looked at each other, then up to barman. Callum said incredulously, "Are you serious? You're worried your girlfriend might not appreciate the fact that a woman could be having her baby in your pub?"

"She can't help where she has the baby!" Max chipped in.

"Yeah, really you should be honoured that the baby has chosen your pub to be born in, god knows why it would choose here though." Will added as an afterthought.

"Well right, yes, but obviously it would be better for her and the baby if she went to hospital, and maybe you lot should go with her as well." the barman suggested, heavily hinting at them.

"I think he wants us to leave. We better tell Sally to cross her legs." Emma said, glaring at the barman. At that moment the toilet door opened and Sally walked out, supported by Jess on one side and by Beth at the back in case she fell.

"We're gonna get you to the car, then you can get to hospital, Nate's waiting out front." Jess said excitedly.

"Oh wow, I can't believe you're having the baby now!" Beth said from the back, smiling widely at Max as they went by.

"Good luck Sally! Get Nate to call us when the baby is born!" Emma called as Sally walked out.

Callum, Max, Will and Emma gathered their things. "Well that was an eventful night." Callum said, putting his coat on.

"All I wanted was a quiet night at the pub, but look what happens." Max said with a mock sigh.

"It's hard isn't it, having a random woman show up flirting with your boyfriend when you're right there, then said random woman knocks over one of friends who happens to be heavily pregnant, sending heavily pregnant friend into labour." Emma said with a serious tone while a smile appeared on her lips.

Will kissed Emma before they made their way out into the chilly night, "Well we'll be seeing you tomorrow at work. Night Max, Callum." Will said, waving as him and Emma started to walk towards the car park.


	4. A Woman Faking It

**Sorry this has taken so long! School got in the way, stupid essays! Anyway, here it is for your reading pleasure. Thanks as always to Hollie, Aileen, Krissie and Kat. Enjoy!**

Will was woken to a ringing sound be the edge of the bed. He looked at his clock, groaning as he registered that it was only 5 in the morning and he had slept for three hours. He looked at the caller ID, seeing it was Jess.

"Why the hell are you ringing me this early?" he grumbled, lying on his back.

"Oh and morning to you too!" Jess said sarcastically on the other end.

"So?" Will questioned.

"So what?" Jess said with a smile at Callum, knowing she was winding him up.

"Why are you ringing me?" he growled at her.

"Because me and Callum are awake and going to work soon so thought we would wake you up as well." Jess said, and Will could hear the smile in her voice as she said it.

"So help me Jess if that's the only reason you've called me." Will threatened.

"Ok ok, I rung to tell you that Sally and Nate are now proud parents!" Jess squealed down the phone at him.

"Wow! When did she have the baby? Did it all go ok?" Will asked, propping himself up.

"Yeah, Nate rang about half an hour ago. Sally was only in labour for three hours, and he said the whole thing went really well." Jess replied.

"So what is it?" Will asked.

"A baby, Will. Cor, I thought even you knew basic biology!" Jess teased.

"Jess!" Will said.

"Ok, it was a little boy called Oliver. He weighed 8lb 3oz and has dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. Nate is going to drop by on the way back to the hospital with some pictures. So I'll take them to work to show everyone then swing by on my way home and show you as well." Jess replied.

"Yeah, I'd like that. Say congrats to Nate from me when he pops in then." Will said, turning onto his side. "I'll ring Emma as well, let her know."

"Ok then, that's good cause she was the next person on my list to ring. Do you fancy chipping in some money to buy the baby a gift?" Jess asked.

"Yeah sure, I'll give you whatever I have. Can I go back to sleep now?" Will asked.

Jess sighed but then laughed, "Of course. I'll see you later. Bye!" Jess rang off, and Will leant back into the pillows, falling asleep instantly.

*

Jess and Callum trooped into the station in the early hours, almost walking into Smithy who had a strained look on his face.

"You alright Smithy?" Callum asked.

"Ah, just the people. I need you to get round to Jenny Archer's flat. She's claimed that she's been raped." Smithy said, his face drawn.

"Yes sarge." Jess said, and she followed Callum back out the station to the squad car. As Callum pulled out of the station, Jess turned to him, "Do you think she's telling the truth?"

"I don't know, we won't know until we get there and see what she has to say." Callum said grimly.

*

Callum rapped on the door. There was no answer, so he bent down and lifted the flap of the mailbox.

"Jenny? It's Sergeant Stone, can you open up?" he called into the hall.

"Callum, she's in the living room, look." Jess said, looking over to Callum. He moved and stood next to her, looking into the living room where Jenny was huddled in a corner. "I'll go and try round the back."

Callum walked back to the door and started knocking again. "Jenny? PC Stone is coming round the back, then she's going to let me in, ok?" There was no answer from the living room, but after a minute the front door was opened by Jess.

"Maybe I should go in first." Jess said, walking to the living room.

"Yeah ok." Callum agreed, hanging back a bit.

"Hi Jenny. You remember me from last night don't you? My name is Jess, I'm a friend of Will's." Jess said quietly, slowly moving towards Jenny. Jenny recoiled slightly, but Jess carried on until she was in front of her. She got down onto the floor so she was level with Jenny.

"He raped me." Jenny said, her face crumbling as she buried her face in her hands.

"Who?" Jess asked softly, placing a comforting hand on Jenny's arm.

"Will." came Jenny's reply, muffled slightly.

Jess's mouth gaped open, her eyebrows furrowed in shock. She shot a quick disbelieving look at Callum, then turned back to Jenny, "Will? PC Fletcher?"

Jenny nodded and looked up at Jess, who gasped at her injuries. Jenny's left eye was purple and black, swollen up. There were bruises on her wrists, suggesting someone had held her there, and Jess could just make out bruises on her thighs. But she had the bruises on her wrists and thighs before when she claimed she had been sexually assaulted, when really she hadn't. This had to be a mistake, Will was not a rapist.

*

Callum was stood in the hallway, listening to what Jenny had told Jess. He picked up his radio, "Sierra Oscar 30 to Sierra Oscar 1."

"Yes Sergeant Stone?" Gina said.

"We're at Jenny Archer's place, she said she's been raped. But when Jess asked who her attacker was, she said it was Will, over." Callum said, leaning back against the wall.

"Will as in Will Fletcher, over?" Gina asked, her eyes wide.

"Yes ma'am. Jenny has a bruise to her left eye, and bruises round her thighs and wrists, over." Callum said, peeking back into the living room where Jenny was crying.

"Ok, get her to the hospital, get the doctors to do a rape kit. I'll send Jo and Stevie to go and get a statement off her, then I want you back at the station. I'll send Millie and Tony to go and arrest him, over." Gina said sadly.

"You're going to arrest him, over?!" Callum asked, his voice rising.

"Callum, there is nothing else I can do. She has identified Will as he attacker, we have to respect that and arrest him, over." Gina replied heatedly.

Callum sighed, not believing this was happening, "Ma'am, over." Callum attached his radio back to his vest, and waited for Jess to come out.

*

"Ok Jenny, we're going to take you to the hospital so they can examine you, and then two other officers will come and get a statement off you ok? You might have to come into the station later though." Jess said gently.

"I don't want to go there if he's there." Jenny said sharply, startling Jess.

"It's ok, he won't be there, don't worry. Come on, lets get you up and out to the car. I'll sit in the back with you." Jess said, helping Jenny to standing position. She led Jenny out the living room, past Callum in the hall and out to the car. Jess climbed into the back seat with her as Callum locked up the house, got in the car and headed towards the hospital.

*

Will had just got up. He stretched and stumbled through to the kitchen, flicking the kettle on. As he was about to make his way to the bathroom for a shower, the doorbell to his flat rang. He walked round to and checked through the peep hole, seeing Tony and Millie stood there. He opened the door with a confused look on his face.

"What are you two doing here?" he asked, an feeling of worry starting to form in his stomach.

"Can we come in?" Millie said with what looked like an apologetic look on her face.

"Sure, do you want a tea or coffee?" he asked them, shutting the door behind them.

"No, it's ok thanks Will. Come sit down." Tony said with a small smile, leading them over to the sofa. Will plopped down, looking from Millie to Tony.

"Well are you going to tell me what's going on?" he asked them with a laugh.

Millie and Tony exchanged an uncomfortable look, before Tony said, "Will Fletcher, you are under arrest on suspicion of rape. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?"

Will just looked at his two friends as they stood up, Millie with her handcuffs out, "Are you serious? Is this some kind of joke? Has Nate set you up for this?" Will asked looking quickly from Millie to Tony.

"I'm really sorry Will, but it's no joke. If you go and get a top and shoes on, then we have to handcuff you and take you to the station." Millie said quietly, following Will as he walked to his bedroom in a daze, pulling on a t-shirt and some socks and shoes.

"This is a mistake! I haven't raped anyone!" Will cried as Millie cuffed him.

"Come on." Millie said, leading him out the flat with Tony behind them.

*

Jess and Callum were sat in the waiting room, waiting for the doctor to come out and give them the results of the rape kit. They were sat with cups of coffee which was now cold.

"There is no way he would do that." Jess said adamantly.

"I know, I know. But if she's accused him, there must be a reason. Ok?" Callum said softly, placing his hand on her thigh and rubbing it comfortingly.

"I can't stand this, I'm going to ring Smithy to see what's going on." Jess said distractedly, getting up. Her coffee fell to the floor and spilled everywhere. She just looked at it and shut her eyes, taking a deep breath. A cleaner came over and started to wipe it up, "I'm really sorry."

"It's ok, don't worry." the cleaner said, offering Jess a smile.

"Jess, it's the doctor, look." Callum said, pointing to the approaching doctor.

"Are you the police officers who brought in Miss Archer?" the doctor asked.

"Yes, we're Sergeant and PC Stone." Jess said, coming forward.

"Hi, I'm Dr Selena Donovan, I'm Jenny's doctor. If you'd like to follow me and I can tell you what's happening." Selena said, leading them through a ward round to a side room. She sat down outside the room, indicating that Jess and Callum should do the same.

"So what have you found out?" Jess asked quickly.

"There are definite signs of rape, or if not rape, extremely rough sex." Selena said.

"So there's a chance she might not have been raped?" Callum asked, pulling out his pad of paper and a pen.

"Correct, but I'm inclined to think she has been. From what all the evidence is showing us, and how she's conducting herself, it appears that she's been raped. You saw the state of her face, where she had been punched, maybe to keep her quiet or to scare her. The bruises around her wrists suggest that she's been held down, to stop her hitting out. There are also scratch marks and faint bruises around the top of her thighs as well, suggesting unwanted attention." Selena said, saying it slowly so that Callum could jot down what she was saying.

"How about internal trauma?" Jess asked.

"Well, there did seem to be some internal trauma which could signify rape, but as I said earlier it could also be a produce of extremely rough sex." Selena said.

"What about any traces of sperm?" Callum asked, glancing up at Selena.

"No, there wasn't any, I think a condom was worn, and that's what Jenny said as well. If you're going to interview her, you need to tread carefully." Selena warned.

"We know how to do our job, thank you." Jess snapped, then immediately apologised, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap." Jess stood up, running her hands through her blonde hair, "I'll be back in a minute."

Callum and Selena watcher her retreating back, "Is she ok?" Selena asked, a concerned look on her face.

Callum looked at the doctor, "Yeah, this is a tough case for her, the same sort of thing happened to her."

Selena looked shocked, but maintained her composure, "Poor woman. Is she the best one to take this case then?"

"We're not taking Jenny's statement, two of our officers from CID are going to do it. If you could give the rape kit to me and the clothes that she was brought in with, I can take it back to the station where it can be analysed. Thank you for your time." Callum said with a quick smile as he walked the way his wife had just gone.

*

Will had just been booked in and was led to his small cell by the custody sergeant. He sat on the cot, not quite believing what had happened. Who the hell had accused him of raping someone? And when had this supposed rape taken place? He sat back on the cot, pressing his back against the clod, hard wall. And then it came to him. Jenny Archer.

*

Jess stormed into the locker room, opening her locker door and looking at all the photos on the inside of her, her family, her friends. There was no way Will was a rapist, and she was determined to clear his name. She slammed her locker door shut, the clanging of the metal following her down the corridor to the custody office. Smithy had swapped with the other custody sergeant and he took in Jess storming down the corridor.

"Sarge, can I see Will please?" she asked, leaning against the counter.

Smithy took in her expression, knowing what she was feeling, "No, I don't think that would be for the best." he said gently.

"Sarge come on! He needs us!" she said, her voice rising.

"PC Stone, I said no. Now go and find Callum, he's got a job for you." Smithy said dismissing Jess. Her face became hard and she shook her head in disgust before she made her way back out the custody office.

*

Jo and Stevie had just picked Jenny up from the hospital and were now situated in the soft interview room where they were taking her statement.

"Now Jenny, we need you to tell us everything that happened. You need to tell us the truth ok?" Stevie said, looking encouragingly at Jenny.

Jenny nodded and began, "I went to the pub last night, I don't know what time. I was quite drunk, but I was out to have fun. I stumbled into this pub just round the corner and saw Will and his friends sitting there. I went over and said hello then sat down so I could talk to him. He seemed cold towards me, trying to get rid of me, like he didn't want his girlfriend to see me. I didn't want to go though, I was supposed to be having fun! But when that blonde police woman said that maybe it was time I went home, I got angry, and I accidentally knocked down a pregnant blonde woman who was their friend. Then they all got really mad at me, and the blonde police woman tried to force me to go home. I said that I would if Will took me. He agreed and he drove me home." Jenny paused, remembering what had happened next.

"It's alright poppet, take your time." Jo said comfortingly.

"He took my keys and opened the door for me, putting my bag on the sofa. Then he started pushing me up the stairs. When I tried to push him away, he started scratching me, which is how I got the scratches on the back of my legs. But he was too strong and he forced me upstairs. He pushed me onto the bed and shut my curtains and door, and then he started pulling my clothes off me. I tried to push him away, to stop him, but he grabbed my wrists and forced them above my head. And then...well then...he raped me. After he was done, he kissed me, got up, put his clothes back on, shut my door and left." Jenny said, looking straight ahead, like a robot.

Stevie gave the woman a small smile, "Well done Jenny, good girl. If you just wait here, we'll be back in a minute." Stevie looked at Jo, and they got up and walked outside.

"Millie, keep an eye on her for a minute please?" Jo asked as Millie walked past.

"Sure." she said, walking into the room the two detectives had just vacated.

"What do you think?" Jo asked Stevie.

"Something doesn't add up, but I don't know what it is." Stevie said with a grimace.

"Agreed. I can't believe Will would do something like this, but then we can't just disregard what she says because we work with Will. Of all the rape victims I've seen, she seemed the least genuine. Most of the rape victims I've seen have been wrecks, not really remembering exactly what happened to them. But she seemed in complete control, which to me isn't what normally happens." Jo said, leaning against the wall.

Stevie thought for a moment, "Well we're going to have to believe her until Will is proven either guilty or innocent. We need her to sign the statement, then the Inspector and DI have both said they want to see it. Then the DI want me and Max to interview Will." Stevie said.

"Rather you than me." Jo said, feeling sorry for her colleague.

"Yeah well, I'd rather it was us than someone he didn't know. Right, let's get back in there." Stevie said, walking back into the soft interview room.

*

Smithy opened the door to Will's cell, giving him a tray with some food on.

"Sarge!" Will pleaded as Smithy turned to shut the cell door again, "Please, what's happening?"

Smithy's face fell; he knew deep down that Will was innocent, but he couldn't talk to him about the case, it wasn't right, "You know that I can't tell you anything. I'm sorry Will."

With that the cell door was clanged shut, and Will threw his food across the cell, feeling satisfied as the tray made a big crash against the cell wall. He turned with his back to the cell door and lay down on the thing mat that was supposed to pass as a mattress. He tucked his knees under his chin, and stared blankly at the wall, willing himself not to feel.


	5. A Woman Hated

**Where would I be without my reviewers? No where! So thank you so much to Aileen and Hollie, enjoy!**

What felt like a few hours later, Will was awoken to his cell door being opened. Smithy walked in, giving Will a grim smile. Smithy looked to the corner where Will had thrown the food, and sighed as he looked back at Will.

"Come on Will, Max and Stevie are going to interview now. Your solicitor is outside." Smithy said, holding the cell door open for Will. Will didn't say anything, just trooped down the small corridor and over to where his solicitor, Ellie, was sat. She jumped up at the sight of him, and immediately took him into the small room where solicitors briefed their clients on what to say. Smithy took back his position behind the custody desk, and Max and Stevie walked in.

"Is he ready?" Max asked, looking up at Smithy.

"He's in there with his solicitor, he shouldn't be long." Smithy replied, booking in the next criminal.

Max and Stevie went and sat on the chairs opposite the custody desk, waiting for Will.

*

Will and Ellie walked into Interview Room 1, followed by Max and Stevie. Max sat down and placed all the folders in front of him while Will and Ellie settled themselves. Stevie turned on the tape recorder and sat down.

"Interview of Will Fletcher, arrested on suspicion of rape. Present are myself, DS Stevie Moss, DS Carter, Will Fletcher and his solicitor Ellie Monroe. Interview commencing at 3pm." Stevie said.

Max opened the folders that he had brought in, and placed various pictures in front of him. They were of Jenny and the injuries she had sustained. As Will saw them, his eyes widened. "Will, can you tell me who the woman in the pictures is?" Max asked, looking closely at Will.

"Yeah, it's Jenny Archer. I met her about a month ago when she claimed she was sexually assaulted." Will said, looking at the pictures.

"Do you know how Jenny got these injuries?" Stevie asked.

"No, I don't." Will replied, looking up at Stevie.

"The thing is, Jenny claims that she got these injuries when she was raped. And she named her rapist as PC Will Fletcher. That's you." Max stated.

"I didn't rape her, and I certainly didn't give her those injuries." Will said vehemently.

"Where were you last night just after midnight?" Stevie asked.

"I was taking Jenny home. She came into the pub where me and my friends," at that Will looked pointedly at Max, "were having some drinks. She was drunk, and was flirting with me. Jess said that she should go home, but she started to get mad. She knocked Sally over when she stood back, and then Jess said that she was going to take her home. Jenny said she would only go home if I took her, so I did. I had to open the door for her, she couldn't get the key in the lock. I threw her bag into the living room, then followed her up the stairs." Will was about to continue when Max interrupted.

"Why did you follow her up the stairs?" Max asked.

"To make sure she got into bed ok. She went into her room, fell on the bed and started to go to sleep. I put the covers over here, shut the curtains and left the room. And then..." Will paused.

"Go on Will." Stevie encouraged.

"Well I was nearly out the door when I heard footsteps coming down the stairs. I turned round and it was Jenny. She pushed me against the wall, she was like a dead weight. She started to kiss me, and I pushed her back. Then I left and drove back to the pub. I got back to the pub around 1 in the morning. About 6 people can verify that." Will added.

Max and Stevie exchanged confused glances, and Max asked, "Jenny kissed you?"

Will nodded, "Not for long, cause I pushed her off, then I left, like I said."

"So where did she get the bruises from?" Stevie asked.

"I honestly don't know. She was fine when I left her. But, when I took her into her bedroom, there were drops of blood on her carpet by the bed." Will said.

"Drops of blood?" Max questioned.

"Yeah, like maybe she'd cut herself on something. She's done this before though, hasn't she. Accusing someone of sexual assault when actually it was nothing of the sort. Now she's accusing me of something I didn't do. I think she became a bit obsessed of me." Will admitted.

"How do you mean by obsessed?" Stevie asked.

"After the first encounter with her, I gave her my card, telling her to ring me if she needed me. After that she started ringing me quite a lot, asking me out for drinks and stuff. I went out with her for a drink once because I felt sorry for her, but that was it. Then she started appearing after work, like I would walk out the station and round the corner, and she was there! And Jess noticed it as well. I had to constantly tell her to stop ringing me, but she wouldn't listen." Will said, his hands palm up on the table, willing them to believe him.

"Why didn't you tell anyone this before?" Max asked.

"Because I thought if I told her enough times she would listen." Will said, sighing. "I didn't rape her."

"Ok, interview terminated at 3:25pm." Max got up and turned the tape off. "You'll be led back to your cell, but should be processed and bailed soon."

"Thank you." Will said gratefully. Stevie offered him a small smile before following Max out the room.

"Well done Will." Ellie said, patting his arm.

"All I did was tell the truth." Will replied, following an officer back to his cell.

*

An hour later Will had finally been bailed. He had been summoned to the Inspectors office straight away. He shut the door behind him, sitting when Gina signalled him to. They just looked at each other until Will looked away.

"Will, I think you know what I have to do know." Gina said softly.

Will nodded and fumbled in his pocket until he got what he was searching for. He placed his warrant card on the table. "How long for?"

"Until the trial is finished, and then we'll see after that." Gina said, almost apologetically. Will got up, his face and mood downcast. Just before Will was about to shut the door to Gina's office, she called him.

"Ma'am?" he asked, shutting the door behind him and standing by her desk.

"Will, I just want to tell you that I believe you. I know you wouldn't do something like this, and you have my backing. Most of the station is behind you as well. I just wanted you to know that." Gina smiled at Will, and he smiled back, knowing at least that most of his colleagues thought him innocent.

"Thank you ma'am." Will said, leaving the room.

*

Will unlocked his door, stepping into the empty flat. He sank down onto the sofa, thinking back to last night, trying to see if he had done something which Jenny might have taken the wrong way. But no, there was nothing. Why had she done this to him? He was innocent! He had only wanted to help her, but then she accuses him of rape. Well that was the last time he would get involved.

*

Will woke up the following morning after an uneasy nights sleep. He hadn't heard from anyone, and he felt his heart shrivel. Would people really think he was a rapist? His friends would know that he was innocent, wouldn't they? And Emma, did she even know? She would think he was innocent, he knew that much. Will checked his watch, it had just gone past 10. Emma would be up by now, he thought he would give her a call, invite her round so he could explain everything to her. He got up out of bed and pulled a jumper on. He padded through the silent flat, heading for the door. He opened it and scooped up the paper that was lying on his mat. He walked into the kitchen, flicking the kettle on and sitting on the barstool. He unfolded the paper and took in the headline. His face became unreadable as he skimmed the article.

_Convict Copper!_

That's what the headline screamed at him. Will clenched the paper, his knuckles turning white. He started to read the beginning of the article.

_A local police officer has been arrested after an accusation of rape was made against him. The police officer, known only to work at Sun Hill police station, took a vulnerable woman home after her night on the town ended badly. He drove her to her house, took her up to her bedroom, told her everything would be ok, and then raped her in her own house. The woman was too scared to come forward until the next morning, not knowing whether the police officer would be the one to answer her call. But thankfully it wasn't, and the officer was arrested by two of his colleagues later in the morning. The woman, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was in a state of despair and disbelief. The injuries she received were horrific; a bruised and bloody eye, scratches on the back of her thighs, bruises around her wrists and at the top of her thighs. We can exclusively reveal..._

Will couldn't read anymore, he felt sick. Where the hell had the media picked the story up from? It must have been someone in the station, and Will's stomach dropped at the thought of a colleague betraying him. Will ripped the paper up, dropping the shredded article on the floor. He buried his head in his hands, trying to erase the article with no luck. His phone started to ring, but he didn't make a move to get up and get it. He let it ring until the answer phone picked it up.

_Hi this is Will. I'm not here so leave a message and I'll get back to you. Cheers! _

At the sound of the beep, a familiar voice started talking.

_Will, I know you're there. I'm guessing you've seen the papers, and let me tell you, the Inspector is furious. She's doing all she can to find out who told the press, and the Superintendent is calling a press release trying to clear it up. _The voice paused, and Will looked at the answering machine, waiting for her to continue. _Please talk to me Will. We all know you're innocent ok? Emma said she's going to come and see you as soon as her shift is finished, and if you haven't called me back by lunchtime I'm coming over, with Lexi. Talk to you soon. Bye._

Will got up and played the message again, his heart expanding slightly by the knowledge that at least one person believed him. The one thing that bothered Will as that even though Emma was coming over after her shift, where was she yesterday when he really needed her?

*

It had just gone past lunch time, Will was spread out on the sofa, drinking whiskey out the bottle. He hated whiskey, but it seemed better than drinking tea and remembering why he was at home and not at work. There was a knock at the door and Will stumbled to his feet. He looked through the peephole, seeing Jess with Lexi in her arms. He opened the door slightly, squinting in the light.

"Uncle Will!" Lexi said happily, stretching out to him.

"What're you doing here?" Will asked, looking at Jess.

"I told you we were coming round if you hadn't called me back. Can we come in?" Jess asked softly. Will looked at Jess, and then at Lexi. He sighed, but held the door open for them.

"Are you sure you wanna be around me?" he asked, flopping back down on the sofa.

"Here Lexi, sit there and play with your toys ok? Mummy has to speak to Uncle Will." Jess said, kissing Lexi's head. Jess pushed Will's feet off the sofa, sitting down.

"Of course I'd wanna be around you! You're one of my closest friends you numpty." she said, glancing at the near empty bottle of whiskey on the floor. "How're you holding up?"

"Brilliant, absolutely marvellous, never better." he slurred, shutting his eyes.

"I'm being serious Will." Jess said.

Will's eyes snapped open and he looked at Jess with surprising lucidity, "So am I."

"Right, get up." Jess said, standing up.

"Mummy?" Lexi asked from the floor.

"Just stay here a minute honey, Uncle Will needs a shower, ok?" Jess smiled at her daughter.

"What? I don't need a shower!" Will moaned, shutting his eyes again.

"Will, get up right now." Jess threatened.

Will peeked at Jess with her hands on her hips and he knew he wouldn't win. He held out a hand, and she took it, pulling him up. She helped him to the bathroom and pushed him in the shower.

"Hang on, I'm still clothed!" Will said as Jess turned the shower on. Freezing water hit every inch of Will's body, making him feel like he was being stabbed with millions of needles. He cried out, trying to shrink away from the water, but it was no use. Jess turned the temperature up so it was warm, and looked at him.

"Have you sobered up yet?" she asked him, his clothing stuck to his body and his hair flattened.

Will stood shivering in the corner of the shower, even though the water was slowly warming up. He glared at Jess, but knew she was doing this for him. He nodded, and Jess flicked the shower off. She opened the door to the shower and handed him a towel. He got out and wrapped it around him. Tears fell down his face, mingling with the water. Jess' face softened, and she pulled him to her.

"I don't want to go to jail." he cried on her shoulder.

"You won't, we all know you're innocent. Don't worry, we won't let her do this to you." Jess said comfortingly in his ear

"I'll save you from the bad lady uncle Will!" A small voice said from somewhere by Will's thigh. Jess let go off Will, scooping up Lexi in her arms. Will laughed and kissed Lexi on the cheek.

"Thank you Lexi." Will said gratefully, thinking that, with the support of his friends and colleagues, he could get through this.


	6. A Woman in Trouble

**It took a while but here it is. Sorry its not very long either! But I hope you enjoy it. A big thank you to Hollie, Krissie, Kat, Kate-Emma, Michelle and Aileen for your lovely reviews.**

After Jess and Lexi had left, Will was moping around the flat, counting down the time to when Emma would be there. He couldn't sit still, he kept thinking of the article in the paper, and then he thought about his friends and Lexi, wanting to protect him from Jenny. But what was he going to do if he got sent down for it? He wouldn't survive in jail...as soon as all the other inmates knew he was a cop that would be it. Will was thinking of a way out, anything that would save him from jail, when there was an almighty smashing noise at the front of his flat. He ran from the living room to the spare bedroom at the front of the flat, staring in disbelief at all the shards of glass littering the floor. He jumped over the shards, looking out the shattered window to the street below. He could see two figures running off, their hoods pulled up, concealing their faces. Will just stared around, seeing his pale face reflected a thousand times in the glass on the floor. So that was that then, someone how not only had the media got hold of the story, but someone also found out that he was the suspect. Fantastic. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and started to dial the Inspector, but then he hung up. He would deal with it, on his own.

*

Will had just deposited the last remains of the glass into his bin when the doorbell rang. He walked over, wondering if it was someone else wanting to get their hands on him, but he saw that it was Emma. A small smile appeared on his face, and he fumbled with the locks in his haste to see her, to hold her to him.

"Em, you came!" he said, pulling her to him. She folded her arms around his body, her head on his shoulder.

"Will, look at your door." she said sadly as he let her go. Will walked into the hall and turned so that he could see his door. Across the wood in bright red spray paint, someone had written the word _rapist_. Will closed his eyes, massaging his temples. It was fine, he would paint over it, that's all he would have to do. He took a deep breath and walked back into the flat, Emma already sat on the sofa. He sat down next to her, just looking at her.

"Where were you yesterday?" he asked her quietly.

"I was at work, you know that." she replied warily.

"But I needed you. I left you messages, and you didn't even get back to me." Will said, staring intently into her face.

"Will, I was working, I had a massive case that I couldn't just come away from like that. I'm sorry!" Emma said a little defensively.

Will just looked at her, his mind going into overdrive, "You don't believe I'm innocent do you." he spat, standing up and running a hand through his hair. He turned away from her, not able to look at her anymore.

"What?" Emma questioned.

"You think I did rape her, that's why you didn't get back to me, that's why you're acting all weird now. My god Emma!" Will said, his voice rising.

"Will, of course I don't think you did it!" Emma replied.

"But? There was a but there. But what Emma?" Will said.

"But...I mean why would someone say they were raped unless something happened." Emma said quietly, wringing her hands.

"Emma, I didn't touch her! I helped her up the stairs to bed, I made sure she was ok. As I was leaving she came down the stairs and pushed herself on me. She kissed me, but I pushed her away and left! I didn't do anything that would make her say that!" Will shouted.

"Don't shout at me!" Emma said, recoiling back.

"Are you scared of me Emma? Do you think I'm going to rape you? You are supposed to be my girlfriend, you know I would never do anything like that!" he said, almost pleading with her.

"Do I though? Maybe I don't know you as well as I thought I did!" Emma said, getting to her feet angrily.

"God, you've always had a problem with us haven't you? You think that all guys are like Matt, and you never let anyone get too close just in case they turn out to be like him. How many times do I have to tell you that I'm nothing like him!" shouted Will, standing right in front of her.

Emma took a step back, "Don't you _dare_ bring Matt into this! I don't think all men are like him, but look at you! You're getting right in my face, trying to make me think it's my fault you raped a woman cause I didn't let you in!"

Will just stood there speechless, "So you do think I did it then."

Emma shrugged, "I just don't know. But I don't want to be with you if you're gonna be like this. I can't do that again."

"You just don't want the press to get hold of the fact that you're my girlfriend, do you? You're scared people are going to smash your windows in, write horrible things on your door." Will said, his back teeth grinding in anger and frustration.

"Was." Emma said.

"Was what?" Will asked, confused.

"I was your girlfriend." Emma said simply.

"You're dumping me?" Will asked, shocked. Whatever they had said to each other, he wasn't expecting that.

"Yes Will, I am dumping you. I'm sorry, I can't do this." Emma shook her head, looked at him sadly, then walked out the flat, out his heart, out his life.

Will just stood there, then sunk to the floor, his back against the wall, staring into space.

*

Will didn't know how long he had been sat there for, maybe it was an hour, maybe it was more than that, but by the time he snapped out of it, it was dark outside. He stretched and stood up, and out of nowhere came this feeling or anger, pure, undiluted anger. Will was shaking with it, he felt pissed off and he needed a release somehow. But he knew that it wouldn't be good if he went looking for trouble, so he settled on going for a run, trying to work the anger out onto the pavement. So Will changed into his running hear, not looking at the clock as he grabbed his i-pod from the night stand. He plugged himself in, listening to Ministry of Sound to really get him going. He jogged out the house and ran to the park, doing a few laps. There was light drizzle which coated Will, mingling with the sweat from his running. His feet pounded the pavement, seeking an outlet for his anger. After half an hour running, Will could feel his anger slowly subsiding. He was near his flat when he passed a pub. At first he was determined to ignore it and carry on home, but he turned around and walked into the pub. He sat down on the barstool at the very end of the bar, and ordered a pint...then another...then another...then another...until 10 empty pint glasses stood in front of him. Will signalled the bartender, wanting another, but the bartender shook his head.

"I wanna a pint!" Will slurred, blinking his eyes rapidly trying to clear the haze.

"Sorry mate, you've have enough." the bartender said, turning around.

"Oi, I was talking to you. Don't you want my money?" Will said, slumping onto the bar trying to reach the bartender.

"Not really. Now get out of here or I'll call the police." the bartender threatened. At the mention of the police Will began to laugh, and wouldn't stop. He didn't move from his stool, and the bartender shook his head and walked to the phone, dialling the police.

*

Callum and Beth walked into the pub. It was just after midnight, and they were nearing the end of their shift. When they call had come in about a disorderly drunk, they had both sighed, knowing they would be late getting off. They approached the bar men and took their hats off.

"Are you the one who called us?" Callum asked, leaning against the bar.

"Yeah. That geezer there, he's had too much and won't leave. He's in no state to get home under his own steam." the bartender said, pointing to the man at the end of the bar who was slumped over with a lot of empty pint glasses in front of him.

"Alright, we'll take him for you." Beth said, walking over to the man. She shook his shoulder with no response, "Sir? Hello sir? I'm a police officer, can you look at me please?"

The man raised his head, looking at Beth through hooded eyes, "Piss off."

Beth exchanged a look with Callum, who then stood forward and supported Will, pulling him off the stool, "You mate, are really lucky that you just said that to Beth and not me. I'm not so forgiving as Beth."

Will looked up at Callum, recognising his voice, and then smiled, "Alright sarge."

"Will, shut up until we get you to the car." Callum said, hefting Will up as he sunk to the floor.

"Come on Will, you need to help us otherwise we can't get you to the car." Beth said, struggling under Will's weight.

"What car? I'm going home." Will said, his head dropping forward.

"No you're not, we're taking you to sleep it off in the cells." Callum said, shoving Will out the door and into the car.

"Why? You arresting me? Have I murdered someone without me realising it? Just like how I supposedly raped someone?" Will asked, anger building.

"Don't be stupid, its for your own safety." Beth said, climbing into the back with Will.

"Yeah, whatever." Will muttered, his head lolling against the window.

*

Will was deposited into a cell by Callum while Beth went and explained to Smithy what was happening.

"God, he's heading down a slippery slope isn't he." Smithy said, booking Will in.

"Sarge, is it any wonder? He needs our support, not our contempt." Beth said, slightly sharper than she meant. Smithy raised his eyebrows at her. "Oh and as we drove by Will's flat, we saw that one of the front windows had been smashed, and Wll mumbled something about graffiti on his door. So we stopped and I had a quick look. Someone spray painted _rapist_ on his front door."

"Why didn't he call us?" Smithy asked, bewildered.

"Because he knew that nothing could be done without alerting more people to the fact that he was under suspicion of rape." Beth said.

"He still should have called us, we could have helped." Smithy said, shaking his head.

"Could we though? Who would want to? Let's be honest, no-one but Jess has been round to see how he's doing." Beth said, about to walk off.

"Er, PC Carter, come back here please." Smithy said authoritatively. Beth rolled her eyes, spun on her heel and walked back.

"Sarge?" she asked.

"We all want to help him, but its difficult. The Super doesn't want us getting involved in case more information comes out about what's happening. Jess got a right bollocking when the Super found out she'd been to see him. We want to help, but we can't." Smithy said sadly.

"Well I'll help him. I don't care what the Super says. Will can't stay at his flat, so I'll talk to Max and see if Will can stay with us for a bit, until this whole thing blows over." Beth said, walking off, determined to help her friend.


	7. A Woman Expecting

**Finally its here! Sorry for the delay, but thanks for your patience :D Enjoy!**

Beth put the keys in the lock to her house and proceeded to dump her bag, keys and shoes on the floor just inside the door.

"Max?" she called into the house. She could smell something extremely appetizing coming from the kitchen, so she padded down the laminate flooring through to the kitchen. Max was stood at the stove, stirring something in a pan. He turned round and smiled at Beth.

"Finally, where were you?" he asked, pulling her to him for a kiss.

"We were called to a drunken man in a pub who turned out to be Will. He's in the cells for the night to sleep it off." Beth said sadly, dropping onto the bar stool while Max carried on cooking.

Max shook his head, "I bet Will was happy with that."

"He was angry, but he was too drunk to do anything. His flat has been vandalised as well. A window has been smashed and someone had spray painted _rapist_ on the front. He can't go back there, someone might try and hurt him next." Beth said, trying to hint to Max about her plan.

"I know he's one of your close friends, but he's big enough to stick up for himself. I don't want you getting hurt for him." Max said, looking at her intently, knowing what she was like.

"I want him to stay here with us for a bit." Beth blurted out. She watched as Max stopped stirring. She held her breath as he slowly moved the pan over onto a cold ring.

"What?" he asked incredulously.

"Max, you know that he needs my help. He has no-one else, nowhere else." Beth pleaded, slipping off the stool and walking round the bar and resting her hands on his chest.

Max shut his eyes and wrapped his arms around Beth, "I understand, but I don't want trouble to come to our door. Not now especially."

"If it was one of your friends, you would do the same thing." Beth said, looking up at him with her blue eyes, knowing Max couldn't resist.

"Maybe if I had any friends, yes." Max said with a small smile, and Beth knew it would be a yes.

"Please Max?" Beth begged.

Max sighed, looked up at the ceiling then back at Beth, "Fine, but no-one is to know he's staying here, ok?"

A smile spread across Beth's face, "Thanks. Did I tell you that I love you DS Carter?"

Max softly kissed Beth on the lips, "Once or twice, PC Carter."

*

Will felt as if a thousand elephants were stomping inside his head, and a furry carpet had grown inside his mouth. He couldn't open his eyes, it felt like someone was shining a torch in his face. He felt around, trying to figure out where he was, and why he was so bloody uncomfortable. He rolled over, and promptly fell onto the cold, stone floor of the cell. The elephants started jumping on his head now, and Will pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes to try and stop the light from creeping into his head.

"You alright Will?" he heard a familiar voice shout. Why was he shouting? Couldn't he see that Will was in pain?

"Stop shouting." Will muttered.

"Will, are you ok?" the voice asked, coming closer to him, and sounding a bit worried. He could feel himself being tapped on the shoulder. "Will, answer me!"

"Go away!" he said, pressing his face into the cold floor.

The person stopped tapping, "He's fine." he called behind him. Will heard another set of footsteps come into the cell and stop next to him.

"Will? It's Beth." Beth whispered to him.

"Beth?" he repeated, opening his eyes slightly.

"Yeah. Listen, I'm taking you home with me ok? I'll get you sorted out. I've already taken a suitcase full of clothes and others bits to mine, they're in the spare room ready for you." Beth said, sitting on the floor next to Will.

"Why?" Will asked, slowly pulling himself to the wall so that he could sit up.

"I don't think you should stay at your flat, not after the vandalism. You're going to stay with me and Max for a bit." Beth explained, supporting him before he slid down the wall.

"Why're you helping me?" Will asked, running a hand through his lank hair.

"Because you're my friend, and you're constantly helping me. So come on, stop feeling sorry for yourself, the car's outside. First I'll get you something for your head. I'll be back in a minute." Beth said, and Will watched her get up and walk out the cell. Smithy walked in, and looked at Will.

"You're lucky Will, your friends would do anything for you. Beth is going out on a limb for you, make sure you tell her how much you appreciate it." Smithy said, half sternly half sadly.

"Thanks dad." Will muttered sarcastically. Smithy shook his head, but couldn't repress the small smile at the corners of his mouth. Beth walked back into the cell, handing Will a plastic cup with water and a fizzing white tablet in the bottom of it.

"Drink up, it'll make you feel better." Beth said, passing the cup to Will.

He sniffed it cautiously, and nearly brought up last nights drink, "I can't drink this, I'll be sick."

"Will, you'll be sick if you don't drink it. Just down it in one." Beth said kindly.

Will took a deep breath, pinched his nose and drank the solution down in one. He shuddered, crushed the plastic cup and threw it into the corner of the cell.

"That wasn't so hard, was it?" Beth said with a small smile.

"Thanks for doing this Beth." Will said, hoisting himself off the floor. He stumbled slightly, but Smithy steadied him. "Thanks."

"I'll bring you your stuff, then Beth will take you back to hers ok?" Smithy said, nodding at Beth as he walked out.

"Sit here Will." Beth said, guiding Will to the cot.

*

An hour later, Will was sat in Beth and Max's kitchen being treated to a fry up by Beth. She wrinkled her nose as she set the plate in front of Will, who immediately started to demolish the meal.

"I don't understand how you can eat that. I would be sick if I were you!" Beth said, sitting down and eating her own breakfast of toast.

"I haven't eaten in over 24 hours. I am starving! I would have eaten anything!" Will said through a mouthful.

"Have you told Emma you're here?" Beth asked, taking a bit of toast. She noticed that Will paused in shovelling the food down.

"Me and Em...we...she dumped me." said Will, putting down his fork and looking out the window.

Beth put her hand on Will's shoulder, "Oh I'm sorry Will, I shouldn't have said anything."

"Nah, don't worry, you weren't to know. Basically she didn't trust me." Will said sadly, attempting nonchalance. It didn't work, Beth knew how much he had loved her.

"She always did seem like a right cow." Beth said, trying to make Will smile.

"No, she wasn't. She could be at times, don't get me wrong, but she wasn't so bad as she was when she first started at the station. I thought she would have stood by me though, I really did." said Will sadly, eating some more of his breakfast.

"Well she's not worth it then is she. You don't need her, you might think you do, but you don't. You've got your friends." Beth said, walking over to the dishwasher and putting her plate in.

"I guess so. I really am grateful for you letting me stay here. I bet Max was hard to convince." Will said with a wry smile, passing his plate to Beth, trying to change the subject.

Beth smiled, "Don't worry, I persuaded him."

Will shuddered, "I don't even want to know how."

They both laughed, the atmosphere back to normal.

*

A few days into Will's stay at Beth and Max's, they had some visitors. Will was sat in the living room watching TV when the door rang.

"Do you want me to get it?" he shouted towards the kitchen where Beth was. He heard her footsteps coming down the hall.

"No, don't trouble yourself, I've got it." she said with a laugh. She opened the door and on the steps were Nate and Sally with baby Oliver and Jess and Callum with Lexi

"Hi! Come in, he's in the living room."

Will looked around curiously as the front door as shut and many pairs of footsteps came down the hall. The first into the living room was Lexi, who jumped on the sofa and hugged Will.

"Uncle Will!" she squealed as he tickled her.

"Hey Lexi-Lou, where'd you come from?" he asked as he gave her a kiss.

"My house." she said simply, which made him laugh. Then Jess and Callum walked into the living room.

"Lexi, get off him before you squash the poor man!" Callum said with a laugh. Lexi climbed off the sofa and proceeded to throw herself into Callum's arms instead.

"Hey stranger! How've you been keeping?" Jess asked, hugging Will as he stood up.

"A lot better now that you lot are here. I thought you weren't allowed to associate with me until the case was cleared? Didn't the Super say that?" Will asked curiously as he sat down next to Jess.

"Screw the Super!" Jess said, smiling at Will.

"Screw the Super!" Lexi repeated excitedly.

"Lexi, you're not allowed to say that darlin'." Callum said with a pointed look at Jess, who laughed.

"But mummy said it!" Lexi complained.

"Well mummy is naughty and shouldn't have said it." Callum said, kissing Lexi.

"Hey, look who else I found outside!" Beth said, walking into the living room, followed by Nate and Sally who had Oliver in her arms.

Nate grinned at Will and patted him on the back, "God, the shifts ain't half been boring without you!"

"I'll bet!" Will said with a laugh as he kissed Sally on the cheek. She repositioned herself so that Will could see Oliver. "Poor thing, he looks like Nate!"

Nate playfully hit Will and sat down next to Callum, "Shut up, you wait til you have kids!"

"You want to hold your godson?" Sally asked, smiling at Will.

"Really? Sure, I'd love to." Will said, carefully cradling the baby's head as he was passed from his mum to Will. Will sat down carefully on the sofa, and looked over to where Sally was. "So how it parenthood?"

"Tiring." Nate said first. Sally shot a look at him.

"Excuse me! I'm the one who gets up with him all the time!" Sally rolled her eyes at her husband before turning to Will, "It's wonderful. The best thing ever. I don't really want to go back to work, I just want to stay home with him."

"We may as well set up a crèche at the station!" Beth said with a laugh, playing with Lexi on the floor.

"I got to crèche!" Lexi said proudly.

"Yes you do, don't you honey." Jess said with a smile at her daughter.

"Any more news on the case?" Callum asked.

Will shook his head, "If there is, they're not telling me anything. I've been left out the loop for ages now, I just want to know what's going on! I don't suppose any of you have any news do you?"

The others all shook their heads, "We're not allowed anywhere near the case. The Super knows we're all talking to you and meeting up with you, so because of that we're banned from the case. Go figure." Nate said, rolling his eyes.

"The Super isn't giving you a hard time is he?" Will asked looking around at his friends.

"No, but he wouldn't even let me look into who had vandalised your flat in case I found out who it was and told you. He thought you would go looking for them and get yourself in more trouble." Jess said with a sigh.

"Yeah, she got called to his office and was in there for ages! We thought she was getting the sack!" Nate said with a laugh.

"As if I would go and beat someone up for vandalising my flat! God, he really doesn't trust me does he?!" Will said angrily, startling the baby.

"I think he does trust you, but he doesn't trust what the media is saying and the portrayal its having on the station." Beth said carefully.

"Oh of course, we've got to mind the stations reputation haven't we." Will spat.

"He's trying to protect all of us, especially you." Callum said, trying to reason with Will.

Will sighed, feeling the anger draining out of him, "I know, I just feel like I'm going stir crazy you know. I need to know what's happening, why no-one is telling me anything."

"You can always come see me and the baby if you need to get out the house. I don't have a social life anymore." Sally said with a laugh.

Will laughed as well, "Thanks Sal, I might take you up on that."

Lexi toddled over to where Will was sat with the baby and climbed onto Jess' lap, "Mummy?"

"Yes sweetie?" Jess answered.

"Where did Ollie come from?" she asked sweetly.

Jess looked from Callum to Sally to Nate, "Well, you remember when Auntie Sally had a big belly?"

"When she was fat?" Lexi said innocently. Jess and the others stifled a laugh.

"Er, yes. Well when she had a big belly, that's where Ollie was. He was growing in her belly." Jess answered, looking into her daughters eyes, Callum's eyes.

"Oh. That's nice." Lexi said, peering over her mothers arms at baby Oliver.

The adults all laughed at the simpleness of children.

*

At the end of the first week that Will had been staying with Max and Beth he awoke one night, wanting a drink. He climbed out of bed and was about to walk down the stairs when he heard Max and Beth talking in the living room. He knew he shouldn't have listened, but he did anyway. He sat on the top stair and listened intently.

"We should tell him tomorrow." Max said.

"Yeah, but it doesn't mean he has to move out does it?" Beth asked.

"No of course not, he can stay here for another few months yet if he needs to. But we'll need to redecorate the room won't we?" Max questioned.

"Yeah I guess so, but if need be he can sleep on the sofa bed in the study." Beth replied.

"Beth, that thing is so uncomfy! It's worse than sleeping in the cells. I think he would prefer to go back to his flat." Max said softly.

"I guess so, but I don't want him to feel like he's being forced out." Beth said, and Will could tell she was pouting.

"I know, I know, but why don't we ask him and he can tell us himself." Max suggested.

"I now know why you're a DS." Beth said, laughing.

"Shush you. Ok, we'll tell him tomorrow morning, see what he wants to do." Max said, kissing Beth on top of the head.

"Ok then. I want it to be November already!" Beth whined.

"Beth, you need these 6 months to prepare, don't you think?" Max said with a laugh.

"I guess so, I'm not looking forward to getting fat though." Beth said, contemplating.

"Come on, you won't be fat! Why do all women think that?" Max asked, shaking his head.

"Because its true!" Beth retorted.

"Beth, you won't be fat. It's called a baby." Max said, and Will froze. Beth was having a baby? That explained it all.

"I know, I can't wait to meet her!" Beth said excitedly.

"Oh so it's a her is it?" Max teased.

"Yes she is. I wish the scan was earlier, I just want to see her now, hear her heartbeat." Beth said contentedly.

"Me too, me too." Max whispered back. And with that, Will returned to bed.


	8. A Woman Told

**This one has been done a lot quicker than my other chapters, thanks to encouragements from my reviewers: Hollie, Aileen, Krissie and Kat. Thanks girls!**

Will woke up the following morning, forgetting what he had overheard last night. He stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom for a quick wash. He looked at himself in the mirror, pleased to see that he was looking more like his old self, pre-Jenny and the rape case. He wiped his face with the towel and proceeded to make his way downstairs. He could hear Beth and Max in the kitchen and walked down the hall, wincing at the coldness of the wood flooring on his bare feet. He slumped into one of the bar stools, rubbing his eyes.

"If it ain't sleeping beauty himself." Max said with a laugh.

"Aw leave him alone, he needs time to wake up." Beth said, concealing a smile as she placed a steaming mug of coffee in front of Will.

"Cheers." he grunted, which made Max laugh even more.

"It's like having a teenager here!" Max said, pulling out a chair.

Will took a sip of the hot liquid, shutting his eyes as he felt the warmth run down his body. He looked up to see Beth and Max exchanging looks, and realised with a jolt what he had overheard last night. He risked a quick look at Beth's stomach and sure enough there was the tiniest of bumps. If he hadn't known she was pregnant, he would have assumed she had just put on weight, "Where's your coffee?" he asked her.

"Oh, um, I'm not having any." Beth said, glancing again at Max who widened his eyes.

"Wow! Why not? You always need a coffee in the morning to get you going!" he said, offering his cup to her, but she shook her head.

"Will, we need to tell you something." Beth said slowly.

Will put his mug down, feigning ignorance, "Is everything ok?"

"Oh yes, everything is fine." Max said with a smile at his wife.

Beth smiled back, and continued, "You see the thing is, well, we're expecting a baby." Beth paused, waiting for Will's reaction.

Will beamed at the couple and got up to give Beth a hug, "Congratulations both of you! That would be why you're not drinking coffee, correct?"

Beth laughed and nodded, "Yeah, I'm not allowed apparently."

"I should start looking for somewhere else to live then, or even move back into my own flat." Will said, sitting down again.

"No mate, you can stay here as long as you need to." Max said kindly.

"Thanks Max, but I don't want to intrude. The first baby is important, I don't wanna be getting in the way. It's fine, I'll move back to the flat." Will said, placing a smile on his face.

"Will seriously, stay here, we want you too." replied Beth, standing next to Max, who put his arms around her waist.

"Beth, no, it's fine, don't worry. You two have done more than enough for me, let me do this for you. If you need any help with anything, like the nursery or whatever, just let me know. Once I've finished this I'll get sorted with my packing." Will drained what was left in the cup, smiled at Max and Beth, and headed back up the stairs to his room. He shut the door and sat heavily on the bed, pulling out his mobile.

*

"Alright Callum? Is Jess there?" Will asked, securing the phone to his ear.

"Yeah sure, one minute." Callum replied. There was silence as Callum hunted for Jess. He could hear Callum murmuring, and then Jess came on the line.

"Will?" she questioned.

"Yeah it's me. Hi. Um, I need to ask a favour." he said slowly.

"Sure, what is it?" she replied.

"Well I'm moving out of Beth and Max's, and I was wondering if I could stay with you a few days while I sort out moving back to the flat." he said quickly, feeling bad for asking his friends to change their lives around for him.

"Ah, so they've told you about the baby?" Jess guessed.

Will paused, "How did you know?"

"Will, me and Beth are kinda close friends if you hadn't noticed already," Will could imagine her rolling her eyes at him, "And she told me yesterday. She said you didn't have to move out."

"I know, but I feel like I'm intruding. This time is supposed to be about those two and the bump without me hanging around in the background!" Will explained.

"So you wanna come intrude in my crazy house instead?" Jess asked, smiling.

"Well, if you don't mind. And it would only be for a few days, I promise." Will said.

"Of course you can, we'd love to have you. Actually, do you think you could stay for maybe two weeks? Me and Callum have got a lot on at work, and this nursery Lexi goes to costs us a fortune! How would you feel about babysitting Lexi?" Jess asked.

"Really? That would be brilliant, thanks so much. I'll pay you as well, don't worry." Will said, smiling as he started chucking clothes into his suitcase.

"No silly, you babysitting will cover it. Do you want me to come pick you up in about an hour? I need to drop off a congratulations card and some flowers to Beth and Max anyway." Jess suggested.

"Erm, yeah if you don't mind. Thanks again, this means a lot." Will said sincerely.

"Don't worry about it, Lexi will be ecstatic that Uncle Will is gonna be looking after her...you don't know what you've let yourself in for!" Jess said with a laugh

*

Exactly one hour later, there was a knock at the door. Beth got up to answer it, and Max and Will could hear a lot of laughing coming from the hall. Jess walked into the living room followed by Beth who had a big bunch of flowers in her hands.

"Max, can you put these in a vase please?" Beth asked as she came in.

"Sure." he took them off her and headed out to the kitchen.

"All set?" Jess asked, giving Will a hug.

"Yep, I've only got the one case, so I won't take up a lot of room." he said with his old cheeky smile.

"Oh don't you worry about that! For a very small person, Lexi seems to take up the whole house! Right, lets get going then, Lexi was practically bouncing off the walls in excitement after Callum told her that you were coming to live with us for a while." Jess said, smiling.

"As much as I love your daughter, she is one excitable and hyper child." Beth said, sitting on the sofa.

"Oh you just wait, you have all this to come! I can give you some of Lexi's old baby clothes and stuff if you wanted, once the nursery is all sorted." Jess offered.

Beth nodded, "That would be lovely, thanks. Do you think pregnancies in the station are catching?"

Jess and Will looked confused, "What?"

"Well obviously you had Lexi, Nate and Sal have just had Ollie, and now I'm pregnant! It should be you again next." Beth said, hinting.

"Nu uh, not for a good few years yet. Not until Lexi is at least eighteen, maybe not even that early!" Jess said with a grin.

*

That evening Will had settled himself in the spare room/study and had just finished unpacking when he could hear a frantic thumping coming up the stairs. He peered out to the hall just in time to see a small person with blonde hair rushing towards him.

"Uncle Will!" Lexi squealed, giggling as Will swung her up above his head.

"Hey Lexi Lou!" Will said, smiling.

"Mummy said you're staying with us. Is that right Uncle Will?" Lexi asked.

"It sure is. I'll be looking after you when mummy and daddy are at work, does that sound fun?" Will asked, tickling her tummy.

Lexi giggled and then said, "Yeah, we can go to the park lots."

"Yes we can, and we can go to the shops and maybe I'll take you swimming as well." Will said, beaming at her.

Lexi absently patted Will's head, "Good boy, yes please."

Will laughed at her and put her down, and she headed into her room to play with the toys.

*

Will was sat at the table with the family, eating their dinner of lasagne.

"Your daughter patted me on the head today and said I was a good boy...any idea why?" Will asked, his eyebrows raised.

"She's doing that a lot, apparently she does it to her friends at nursery." Callum said, looking at his daughter who had lasagne all up her face.

"Well she wants a dog, cause we were watching some soap the other day and there was a character with a dog, patting the dog and saying good boy. And since then she's been doing it." Jess added, taking a sip of wine.

"Hmmm, I might have to teach her not to do that." Callum said, laughing.

"Lexi said that you might be taking her swimming?" Jess asked Will, passing him a beer.

"Yeah, if that's alright with you that is. I used to love going swimming when I was little, I thought she might like it as well." Will said hurriedly, worried that he had said something he shouldn't have.

"No that's brilliant, we want her to be able to swim, but we hardly have time to teach her. There's a pool just down the road." Callum said, moving Lexi's drink back so she didn't knock it over.

"Swimming pool!" Lexi chirped from the end of the table.

"Yes honey, Uncle Will is gonna take you swimming." Jess said, smiling at Lexi. She turned back to Will and asked, "Heard anything from Emma recently?"

"She's tried ringing me, but I haven't answered. I don't want to talk to her." Will said shortly.

"Well she's been asking me how you are and stuff..." Jess said slowly.

"Did you tell her that my life has been one big barrel of laughs since I was suspended?" Will said sarcastically.

"Of course I didn't. I didn't really say anything, just that I thought you were holding up. She asked me to tell you that she wants to talk to you." Jess said softly.

"Well I don't want to talk to her. I'll wash up." Will said, taking all the plates and walking through to the kitchen.

"Good job Jess." Callum said, shaking his head at Jess as he lifted Lexi off her booster seat.

"What? I was passing on Emma's message!" Jess said, defending herself.

"Do you think that was the best time to bring it up though? He's still hurting over her. Just mind what you say." Callum added, more gently. He set Lexi on the floor, kissed Jess on the forehead and walked through to the living room. Jess watched his retreating back then walked through to the kitchen.

"Will, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." Jess said quietly, biting her lip.

Will tensed, but shook his head, "It's fine. I'm not upset, I'm just still angry at her, that's all. It wasn't your fault. Where's the nearest park?" Will asked, changing the subject.

"Um, follow the road until you get to the main road, then go left. It comes up pretty quick. We'll be in the living room." Jess said, briefly touching his arm before she turned and left. Will stopped what he was doing, his hands suspended in the frothy water. He stretched his neck from side to side, trying to unwind. But it was no good. Emma had been on his mind for a while now, ever since he'd been staying with Beth and Max. The more he thought about it, the more he knew that him and Emma would never have worked. But there was still a small part of him that hoped she would take him back. But no, that's not what he wanted. All he wanted was for this rape case to go away, and for Jenny to disappear down whatever hole she sprung up from.

*

A week later and Will was still at Jess and Callum's. His flat was nearly ready to move back into. The front window which had been smashed was now fixed, the front door had been repainted to cover the graffiti, and new locks had been fitted. Will had enjoyed staying at Jess and Callum, mainly because he got to spend time with Lexi. They went out most days, either to the park of just for a walk. It was a beautiful sunny day on the last Friday in May, and Will had decided that today would be the day when he took Lexi swimming. He came downstairs and she was sat in the living room dressed in her police woman fancy dress which Beth had brought her.

"Uncle Will! Where are we going today?" she asked, running up to him.

"Well, I thought we could go swimming today, yeah?" Will said, putting the police hat on Lexi's head.

"Yeah!" she squealed, running out the living room into the kitchen.

"Daddy! Uncle Will is taking me swimming!" she shouted at Callum.

"Is he? You lucky girl! When mummy gets home from work you can tell her all about it. Here you go, go and eat your toast at the table, good girl." Callum said, kissing her hair and sitting her at the table with her toast.

"Has she got any armbands or anything?" Will asked Callum, leaning against the counter and accepting the mug of hot coffee.

"Yeah she does, they're in the drawer with her swimming costume, which is the top drawer. She has her own little towel as well. Are you sure you're alright taking her?" Callum asked again, drinking his own coffee.

"Yes Callum we'll be fine don't worry. What time is Jess back?" Will asked, rolling his eyes at Callum.

"Just after lunch, she's being held up on a case. I'll be back later tonight. Right, I'm heading off. I'll see you later. Please don't let Lexi drown!" Callum shouted as he walked out the house.

"Right Lexi-Lou, lets get you ready." Will said, smiling as Lexi raced upstairs.

*

Will had spent two hours at the swimming pool with Lexi, and frankly, he had been ready to leave an hour before. It wasn't Lexi, she was fine, but it was all the other mothers with their children. They all looked at him with Lexi, immediately jumping to the conclusion that he was her father. Then they looked at his ring finger and tutted, seeing no ring there. Some of the mothers all flocked around him, cooing over Lexi and offering support for him if he needed help with Lexi and her swimming. They stopped though when Lexi asked, "Uncle Will, why are all these ladies hassling us?"

Will looked at Lexi in shock, "Hassling us?"

"Yes," Lexi said innocently, oblivious to the evils the other mums were giving both her and Will, "That's what mummy and daddy say about some people."

Will started to laugh, pulling Lexi through the water away from the other women, "Lexi-Lou, you shouldn't really say things like that."

"Why?" she asked.

"Because some people don't like it. Come on, do you wanna ride on my back?" Will asked, scooping Lexi up and twisting her round so that she could hold onto his back.

*

Will and Lexi walked out of the leisure centre, Will having a tight grip on Lexi's hand.

"Do you want an ice cream?" he asked her, spying the ice cream van ahead.

"Yes please!" she said, skipping along.

Will passed Lexi her mini milk and handed the man the money. He turned round and took Lexi's hand, continuing back to Jess and Callum's. They had just got to where the park was when someone banged into Will.

"Oh I'm so sorry." a soft Irish voice said sincerely.

"It's ok don't..." Will stopped and the friendly smile dropped from his face as he saw who it was.

"Will, how are you?" Jenny asked, looking a bit shocked to see him.

Will just stared at her, disgusted at the sudden feeling her had to hit her. He couldn't believe that she was standing in front of him, bold as you like, not even seeming to comprehend that she was slowly ruining his life. Lexi tugged on Will's hand, and it took him a minute to tear his eyes away from that woman.

"Who's that uncle Will?" she asked, looking from Will to Jenny, licking her mini milk in between.

Jenny bent down so that she was at eye level with Lexi, "Hello sweetie, I'm Jenny."

Lexi's eyes widened as she understood who it was. She took a step back and glared at Jenny, "I don't like you. You're a bad lady. You made uncle Will upset."

Jenny straightened up, looking taken aback. "I...I'm not a bad lady."

"Yes you are, you are mean, mean, mean, mean." Lexi chanted, looking up at Jenny.

"Come on Lexi-Lou, lets go home." Will said, picking Lexi up and walking straight past Jenny.

"Will!" Jenny shouted, and she started running towards him but stopped when she saw the look he gave her, a look so full of disgust and hate that it stopped Jenny in her tracks.

*

Will unlocked the front door to Jess and Callum's house and Lexi ran in ahead.

"Mummy!" she shouted through the house.

"In here baby." Jess called back from the living room. Will threw the swimming bag on the hall floor and followed Lexi to the living room.

"Mummy we saw the bad lady who made uncle Will upset!" Lexi declared, clambering up onto Jess' lap.

"Who honey?" Jess asked, looking from Will to Lexi.

"The bad lady mummy. Jenny." Lexi said.

"Where?" Jess asked, an urgent tone in her voice.

"When we were coming back from the pool someone bumped into me. I looked up and it was her. She asked me how I was. I couldn't answer her. Lexi asked me who she was, and Jenny introduced herself and Lexi said to her that she was bad and mean lady. Jenny looked shocked. But then I picked Lexi up and walked away. She called after me though, I thought she was going to follow but she stopped." Will said, running his hands through his hair and collapsing onto the sofa.

"So you didn't say anything to her?" Jess asked carefully.

"Not one word. Lexi did all the talking for me." Will said, and he couldn't help but laugh. "She is already so like you it's scary!"

"Aw Lexi, you've made mummy proud. What a good girl you are!" Jess said with a smile, planting a big kiss on Lexi's cheek.


	9. A Woman Caught Out

**So here it is, the final chapter, the conclusion. I hope you enjoyed this story, and I want to thank my bloody marvellous reviewers: Hollie, Aileen and Kat. Your comments make me carry on.**

Max knocked on the Inspectors door, opening it when she called.

"DS Carter? To what do I owe this pleasure?" Gina asked, looking up expectantly.

"Ma'am, I need to borrow two officers. We'd like them to go and pick Jenny up, bring her back to the station." Max asked.

Gina sat up straighter, "Can I ask why?"

"Me and Stevie have been looking through her statements and the character witnesses, pictures from the crime scene and also CCTV and Will's statements. There are a lot of things which don't match up which we want to ask her about." Max explained.

Gina thought about it, "Of course, I want PC Fletcher's name cleared. You can take Tony and Ben."

Max smiled, "Ma'am."

*

Will stretched and got up to get Lexi a drink. He had just placed the beaker down in front of Lexi when the phone rang.

"Hello?" he said.

"Will? It's Jess. I have some news, but I'll have to be quick." Jess whispered.

"What? Is it to do with the case?" Will asked quickly.

"Yeah. Max has asked for Jenny to be brought back in for questioning, there are holes appearing in her statement and what was found at the crime scene, and also with some of the other bits as well. It's not matching up." Jess said, and Will could hear the smile in her voice.

"I would say that's brilliant, but I'm not going to get my hopes up just yet. Thanks for calling, I know you weren't supposed to." Will said gratefully.

"Ah it's alright. Is Lexi alright?" Jess asked.

"Yeah she's fine." Will replied, ruffling Lexi's hair.

"Right good, I'll be off then. I've only got another two hours so I'll see you after that. Give Lexi a kiss from me. Bye!" Jess hung up, and Will replaced the phone on its cradle.

"Was that mummy?" Lexi asked, peeling her eyes away from the TV.

"Yep, come here, she asked me to do something." Will said, hooking his hands under Lexi's arms and pulling her onto his lap.

"What?" she asked, looking expectantly at Will.

Will planted a big kiss on her forehead, "That."

"Mummy always gives me kisses." Lexi said with a laugh, climbing back off Will's lap and watching TV.

*

"Jenny, thank you for coming in again." Stevie said with a smile, placing Jenny's file on the table in between them.

Jenny looked between Max and Stevie, her forehead creased, "Why am I here? The officers said you had more questions?"

"Yeah we do. You see Jenny, there are some things which aren't matching up between your statement and the rest of our evidence." Max said, watching Jenny's face closely. Her face was absolutely blank.

"Oh?" she questioned.

"Oh indeed. Jenny, there are big gaping holes in your statement, and the physical evidence found at your house doesn't match up with what you said happened." Stevie pressed.

"Are you calling me a liar?" Jenny demanded, her accent strong.

"Are you a liar?" Max asked, turning the question back to her.

"No of course I'm not!" Jenny said, crossing her arms across her chest.

"See your statement and Will's correlate up to the point where you arrived at your house. That's where the statements start to differ." Stevie said, pulling out Jenny's statement.

"You're only going to believe him because he's your friend and colleague. You're not going to believe me because I was wrong before, you think I'm lying." Jenny said.

"No-one has called you a liar Jenny, although you keep bringing it up. We're not doing this because PC Fletcher is a colleague, we're doing this so that a potentially innocent man doesn't go to jail." Max said, a bit sharper than intended.

"You said that Will pushed you up the stairs, and that's how you got the scratches on the back of your legs. But our CSE checked under Will's nails, and there were no traces of your skin. Why do you think that could be?" Stevie asked.

"Well I don't know, you're the officers, you tell me! Maybe he washed his hands as soon as he got in, I don't know!" Jenny said, throwing her arms up.

"You also said that Will ripped your clothes off you, throwing them to the side of the bed. However, our CSE found no ripped clothes by the edge of the bed, they were all in tact. He took the clothes and tested them for any trace evidence from Will, and unbelievably there was none there." Max said, raising his eyebrows at Jenny and leaning back.

"No...you're wrong, I didn't say he ripped them off me." Jenny said, shooting a look between Max and her solicitor.

"Yes you did Jenny." Stevie said softly, before reading from the statement in front of her, "_PC Will Fletcher forced me onto the bed, ripping my clothes off me with one hand and holding my wrists above my head with the other_." That's what you said, it's right here, and you signed it as correct."

"Well what about the bruises I got on my wrists. The doctor said they were consistent with being held down using some force. She said there were bruises which she would associate with rape." Jenny said quickly.

"Ah, you're wrong there, you didn't listen to the doctor properly. Yes, the bruises could point to rape, but it could also point to rough sex Jenny. And I believe you made a false sexual assault claim that PC Fletcher and Stone investigated, where it pointed to rape but it actually proved to you having rough sex the night before with your counsellor. Isn't that right Jenny?" Max said, cocking his head.

Jenny's breathing started to get quicker, she was getting hot, "Is it hot in here? Or is it just me? I'm really hot, I don't feel comfortable in here."

"Jenny, it's fine in here. Maybe it's because you're feeling guilty." Stevie suggested.

"No, it really is hot in here. Can I have some water? Some nice cold water would be nice." Jenny said, rambling.

"You didn't take the medication that the doctor gave you, did you? Nor did you keep going to your counselling sessions. You stopped after the first one." Max said.

"The pills made me ill, they didn't make me think straight. And the counsellor, she was a bitch, I didn't like her. She treated me like I was crazy, like I had a mental illness." Jenny said, her sight becoming blurry from the tears which threatened to fall.

"Jenny, you are mentally ill. You need to take your medication and see the counsellor again. This, this rape claim, it has torn PC Fletcher's life apart..." Stevie began, before being interrupted.

Jenny stood up so fast that her chair slammed onto the ground, sideways, "HE RUINED MY LIFE!" she screamed, her hands pulling at her hair.

"Jenny, calm down." Max said, a warning tone in his voice. He was ready to stand up, to restrain her if necessary.

"No, you don't understand, you're not listening to me. He didn't listen to me either. All he wanted to do was talk about us, about getting married, having kids. I didn't want that! And then all he wanted to do was have sex, and he hurt me! I wanted it, but it still hurt. Then he refused to talk to me after the sexual assault claims, but I got confused, that's all it was, just confused. That's what this is, a big confusion. Will was confused." Jenny said, backing into a corner in the room and sinking to the floor.

"Stevie, get the FME." Max said quietly.

"NO! No doctors, they want to lock me up, they think I'm crazy. But I'm not, I'm really not." Jenny mumbled, staring straight ahead.

Stevie got up and slipped out the room, while Max signalled for the solicitor to follow Stevie out the room. Max himself got up of his chair and slowly approached Jenny. He crouched down so that he was at her level.

"Jenny? How about we go into one of the cells where you can lie down and think about everything? How does that sound?" Max asked.

"No, I don't wanna go to jail. Please, I didn't mean any of it, but he hurt me." Jenny whimpered.

"Who hurt you Jenny?" Max asked.

"Graham hurt me when he said he didn't want me any more, and then Will hurt me by ignoring me and telling me not to call him anymore." Jenny cried.

"Did Will physically hurt you Jenny? Did he rape you?" Max asked slowly. Jenny looked up at Max, her eyes swimming with tears, and she stared at him with amazing clarity before shaking her head. Max closed his eyes, sighing.

"How did you get the bruising?" Max asked. He turned round, seeing Stevie had returned with the FME. He held out his hand, warning them to stay where they were.

"Graham, my old counsellor, my ex boyfriend. I called him round, wanting sex. He came round reluctantly, he didn't want to do anything that might mean I set you lot on him again. But then we ended up having sex, and he got angry at me and it became really rough. I didn't tell him to stop though." Jenny said, staring at the floor.

"Are you telling me that Will didn't rape you, that you made it up? That you got the bruises and injuries through rough sex with Graham Wright, your old counsellor?" Max asked clearly. Jenny nodded and burst into noisy tears.

Max nodded at Stevie and the FME to come in ready, "Jennifer Archer, I'm arresting you for the false claim of rape, wasting police time and perverting the course of justice. You do not have to say anything, but it may harm your defence if you do not mention, when questioned, something which you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?" Max asked.

Jenny cried so loudly that it felt like it pierced right through Max and Stevie. They looked at her as she was cuffed and led out to the custody desk and then to cells. Stevie turned off the tape recorder.

"Well, we got a result, but I don't feel good for it." Stevie said as they walked up to CID to fill in the Superintendent.

"Agreed. Normally cases like this don't affect me, but there's something different about this one." Max said, holding the door open for Stevie.

"Thanks. Yeah I know what you mean. She's not well, she's mentally ill. In a way, and I know this is wrong, but I feel sorry for her." Stevie admitted.

Max placed a comforting hand on Stevie's shoulder, "Me too."

*

"Welcome back Will!" Tony said as he walked past, clapping Will on the back.

"It's like you never left." Roger said with a wink, following Tony.

"Will, drinks tonight to celebrate yeah?" Ben called as he rounded the corner.

"No, Ben, not tonight." Will said with a fixed smile. He walked into the locker room, changing into his uniform for the first time in weeks. He pulled out his warrant card, running a thumb over the insignia on the front. He placed it in his trouser pocket, securing his belt and then pulling his shirt on. It felt so good to be back, but he didn't want to celebrate. He didn't feel like celebrating the fact that Jenny would go to the prison because of him, deliberately or not. He felt sorry for her, even after all she had done to him, he felt sorry for her. He sighed as he tied up his boots, and opened the door out of the locker rooms. He was just heading to the Inspectors office when he bumped into someone.

"Sorry." came a familiar voice.

"Emma." Will said quietly, looking into eyes he had once loved.

"Will. I wanted to talk to you. I...well I wanted to apologise for not believing you, and for breaking up with you when you needed me the most. I want to start again, with you." Emma said, pleading with her eyes and her voice.

Will considered the women he thought he had once known who was stood in front of him, apologising for not trusting him, for not believing in him, for not being there for him. "No." he said simply.

"No?" she repeated, her face crumbling.

"I can't be with you when you don't trust me. I needed you and you left me. I know who my real friends are, the real people I can trust to help me when I need them." Will said shortly, walking past her, trying to ignore the screaming in his heart to turn around and take her back.

"WILL!" she called after him.

But Will carried on, a burden lifted from his shoulders. He was a free man, he was back doing the job that he loved, he felt like he could start again. It was bliss.


End file.
